


Space Oddity

by PurpleAsters



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Alternate Universe - Space, Android / Tank Jongho, Cybernetics, Cyberpunk, Doctor / Cook Seonghwa, Engineer / Techie Yeosang, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Mingi Needs a Nap, Outer Space, Pilot Mingi, Prince Yunho, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Slave San, Slow Build, Space Battles, Space Pirates, Tank Wooyoung, Violence, Weird Plot Shit, captain hongjoong, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-13 16:49:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21497344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleAsters/pseuds/PurpleAsters
Summary: "when I was a kid, my mom used to tell me stories of the adventurers that pioneered space, I fell in love with the thought of space battles, aliens, and pretty girls...""... what do you think now?""...now I can't stop thinking about how beautiful you look..."
Relationships: Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 82





	1. preview: end of the beginning

  
_✴_

_the muffled sound of bullets and lasers hitting the metal plates of the spacecrafts exterior is only background noise, while the harsh breathing and whimpers being all he can actually hear._

_his hands shake, slippery with blood and sweat, as he grips the small backup pistol. his back is pressed against the metal wall, the cold seeping into his skin calming him down with it's familiar bite. the heart hammering in his chest is too loud._

_the body pressed into his side shakes, terrified and also injured. the shakey breaths leaving busted lips smell like copper, and makes his head spin. _

_slowly the heavy pounding of boots on metal flooring reaches his ears, he takes a deep breath and turns to the other. _

_dark eyes meet teary and sickly blue. he stares, tracing the others face and soft features. the slope of his nose, the curve of his cupid's bow, the tears and blood smudged on smooth cheeks. _

_he can't help but still admire the others beauty, even in the eyes of death._

_around the corner the foot falls become more and more clear by the second, but he doesn't want to leave._

_he wants to stay right here, with his head pressed against the others to comfort._

_so he stays, forehead to the others, sharing air, and clenching his eyes shut hard. he shuts down. _

_suddenly he's pulled back hard, the feeling of familiar cold hands grabbing at his arms and screams make him jolt and open his eyes. _

_they're surrounded, large tall men dressed in padded uniforms are pulling them apart, carelessly grabbing the love of his life like he's not the finest china around. _

_he's being pulled down to his knees, cuffs attaching to his wrists, ankles and neck like a rabid animal. but he can only hear the screams, the pleas to for them to stop, his name shouted over and over again. _

_he can't think anymore. _

_beside him he feels hot breath on his ear and the cruel words laced with lies. _

_"Song Mingi of Earth, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of the Prince of _ _Valkar_ _, Jeong Yunho. Hope it was worth your life, pirate scum."_

_✴_

_coming soon_


	2. Wake Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, again!
> 
> I know starting a new story when you have one going is bad, but I've been wanting to write this story for months now and it's driving me crazy. 
> 
> ive been itching to do a space pirate au! for ATEEZ since I starting stanning them! so here it is!
> 
> this story has gone through at least three plot changes so far, and overall the current one was originally meant to be a ChanBaek fic but this seems more fitting?
> 
> before we start I want to make it clear that I'm not a strong writer!  
I also have a very flowery(?) style of writing that can get confusing and not make overall sense because I literally write what I'm thinking!  
(if you've read my other works, especially Strawberries & Cigarettes, you understand what I mean)
> 
> moving onto warnings:
> 
> \- This story will have many warnings!  
I really don't want to have to take the time to think specifics, but just know the main ones are:
> 
> • Violence, Death, Language, Blood  
• Homosexual Relationships, Mentions of Sex, and a very brief scene implying intercourse  
• Child/Spouse Abuse, Slavery, Racism  
• Implied/Mentioned NON-CON 
> 
> Most of the things and places mentioned are from Movies, TV Shows, and Videogames!
> 
> a lot of it is based off of the game Cyberpunk 2077, The Fallout Series, Altered Carbon, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, and additionally my own mind!
> 
> anything mentioned I'll try to make sure I explain in story, but if not feel free to ask me!
> 
> that all seems so dark as I type it out, but this story isn't that dark!  
I swear it's literally a love story???
> 
> I'm an angsty person I'm sorry lmao??
> 
> ANYWAYS!  
I hope you all enjoy!

Bang. Bang. Bang.

  
  
  


A body, lying comfortably in their large bed, startles awake. The loud banging coming from further in the small apartment waking up the owner in the most inconvenient of ways. The figure sits up in his bed, sleepily rubbing at his eyes and letting them adjust to the dim lighting of his bedroom. 

The curtains are still closed, only small pin sized holes letting the outside sun to beam through the smallest bit. The floor is littered with clothes, weapon mods, and junk, all lazily thrown to the ground and trashing the place. 

The man grunts as the loud banging continues, now followed by shouts. 

He stumbles out of bed, long limbs and heavy body not cooperating at such an early time in the morning. He trips over a pair of boots that lay on the floor, almost face planting, but saves himself by grabbing a hold of the dresser next to him in panic. He sighs and steadies himself for a moment, running a hand through his hair, fingers tugging harshly at a few tangles. The man groans as he hears a threat come from the front door, the banging only getting more aggressive. 

He stumbled out of his room, wincing at the sudden sharp pain behind his eyes at the lighting change of his apartment's main room, which is much more lit up compared to his cave of a bedroom, and finally shouts at the person behind his room. 

"Hey! Quit hitting that damn door, I'm coming!" 

His voice is deep and rough, like his vocal cords are raw. In his mind he hopes it spooks whoever is abusing his front door, but when they reply with a borderline whiny tone the man wants to go back to bed. 

"Open the fucking door, Song!" 

He jerks the door open, albeit rougher than he originally intended, and makes the poor wood groan in protest of the treatment. He glares. 

In front of him stands Wooyoung Jung, or better known as just Wooyoung. His best friend, crewmate, partner in crime, and above all, the biggest pain in his ass to ever exist.

Wooyoung looks pissed, his normally only mildly unsettling blank white eyes are hard and glaring. The thin glowing blue lines carved into the short space between the outer corner of his eyes and the small metal plates on his temples pulse heavily. 

He's dressed in tight leather looking pants that have the knees cut out and replaced with metal guards, black boots with the laces wrapped around his ankles to tie, and a mesh top with a solid black bomber jacket, although the right sleeve has been ripped off to showcase his sleek chrome prosthetic arm. 

Wooyoung tapped his heavy boots onto the metal flooring of the hallway, making a loud thunk sound. 

"Have you just given up answering your comms?" He speaks up, Song sighs. 

The man runs a hand down his face, subconsciously avoiding his left eye and cheekbone where a dark purple bruise resides, and groans. As he replies he steps away from the door and walks around his apartment, his friend following and shutting the door behind himself, the silver laser pistol strapped to his thigh clanking loudly as he walks. 

"No Woo, I must have slept through the calls…"

The two walk into the small and messy kitchen, the sink filled with dishes and the counters are littered with trash and empty instant ramen cups. The taller of the two opens the small humming refrigerator and pulls out a bottle of water, not even looking at his friend as he speaks. 

"I swear...Mingi when was the last time you cleaned…"

Wooyoung is right, the entire apartment is disgusting. There's clothes thrown on the floor and couch, trash on the ground, and judging by his friends' scrunched up face, there's a heavy smell that Mingi's nose has adapted to. 

Mingi himself isn't sure what happened to get the place so trashed.

Suddenly Wooyoung pauses his complaining and stares at Mingi, the taller of the two frowning and shifting a bit under the gaze. It's only then does Mingi remember that he's not actually wearing a shirt, only joggers, and that his friend is staring very intently at his chest.

"...what the fuck did you do last night…"

The red haired man looks down at his torso, grimacing as he sees the numerous bruises and scrapes that scar the tan skin and metallic surface cyberware. It's not uncommon for him to have a few bruises and wounds, not in his line of work, but this is close to the worst it has looked in a while, he understands his friends' concern. 

Mingi can't remember much of the night before, or even the day before that, it's all blurry and muffled and it makes him wonder if he's been on drugs, not that he normally takes them of course. Overall the last clear memory is of him getting into an argument with a man at the bar he was at the night before, Mingi remembers it escalating fairly quickly and even getting kicked out of the club after the owner split up the fight, but after he was escorted out it's completely blank. thus he tells his friend just that. 

Wooyoung looks everything but surprised or concerned, if anything he looks a bit angry and it makes Mingi shift his weight awkwardly. Eventually the younger just brings up had up to pinch at the bridge of his nose, an exhausted sigh leaving his lips, and Mingi relaxes his body at the act. 

After a few minutes Wooyoung seems to drop his agitated mood and pushes Mingi out of the way to get to the refrigerator, swinging the door open and hunching down to scavenge for something edible. Mingi decides to leave his friend in favor of putting on appropriate clothes for the day. 

The tall body stumbles towards his bedroom again, almost sighing in relief at the dim lighting that calms his still pulsing headache. 

He runs a hand through his hair, walking to his dresser and pulling a shirt and pants from the pile in front of it. Why he doesn't take the time to neatly put his clean clothes away is unknown. 

As he's tugging on his shirt he realizes just how sore he is, how stiff his left hand is and how his ribs have a dull throb the more he moves his torso. He really questions if he has any serious damage, and he's contemplating bringing it up to Seonghwa when he and Wooyoung meet up with the crew.

But Mingi ignores his injuries and reaches high to stretch, limbs slowly untensing as he does, and sighs. He doesn't feel much better really, still like he got hit by a car, but no longer like he's dying. 

He almost didn't want to leave his apartment, his bed looked much too comfortable and he could live off of ramen and MREs for at least another week. But Wooyoung coming meant only one thing, and the 23 unread messages from Hongjoong alone confirmed that suspicion. They had a job, and what ship would run without their Pilot?

The tall male shakes his head, sliding on his heavy boots, grabbing his jacket and pistol before heading back out of his bedroom, squinting at the light change again. 

Wooyoung is leaning back against the counter, only this time he is busy shoving a spoon full of pudding into his mouth. Mingi cringes.

"Bro...I bought that like a year ago…"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"It's freezing!"

"We're floating in space, what do you expect?"

"Maybe for the Government to invest in heating?"

"Fat chance...you know they only care about the upper levels"

"Are you implying that our heavenly saviours that is the Intergalactic Alliance could be..." a dramatic gasp "...Corrupt?!"

Mingi snorts as he watches his friend feign surprise, as if he acted well. 

"I ain't saying that, just pointing out their priorities man."

Beside him Wooyoung laughs loud enough to gain sharp looks from the people surrounding them.

With a playful huff Mingi looks away, letting his eyes glance around at the city life around them. Sub Level 2, District 6, nicknamed Scrap City, of the massive Intergalactic Alliance capital space city Solaris.

Scrap City was nice, a bit packed and poverty stricken, but still nice. Shops line the main roads, neon signs light the forever dark streets, and crowds of people flood the streeting and a hundred languages are spoken at once.

Being on the lowest level of the planet sized spaceship allowed the police and government to turn a blind eye to everything that happened down below. The few officers that patrolled the city streets were corrupt and took bribes to look the other way, murders and suicides were high and illegal business got swept under the rug. 

Solaris worked like that, the obvious class divide was almost promoted to the universe and all newcomers.

Pay us 40,000 credits for rent, or get thrown down the trash shoots to the sub levels!

But, it was his home. and had been for the past 6 years. He doesn't regret leaving Earth, even if his plans didn't work out how he'd hoped. 

Belonging to a Scavenger Crew wasn't easy, especially when most of the IGAs citizens and Solar Core Soldiers either glared or cursed at them. 

Scavers, Mercs, Pirates. That's what they were, they took contract jobs ranging from the smallest "good fetch this for me" all the way up to assassinations if the pay was good enough. 

Pirates weren't respected, why should they be? Most crews only dealt in illegal partnerships, some raided and murdered. All stuff that their crew avoided as much as they could. 

But that meant that their crew struggled hard, barely making ends meet and most of them had minor jobs on the side to help pay their rents. Contracts were long in between and scraping became more dangerous and fruitless each time they'd head out. 

It was times like that that Mingi missed being a soldier, a member of the Solar Core. He missed the pay more than the job or it's people though. 

But sometimes things worked out, sometimes they had plenty of credits for bills and food and could go home and enjoy life for a brief moment. Like they had been for the last two weeks. 

Mingi always enjoyed breaks, the short times when he could sleep in his own bed in his own apartment, when he could eat a full meal from the shop near his apartment building that reminded him of his mother's cooking and could be a young adult for a moment. he could momentarily forget about the pains in his body or the worry of getting his electricity shut off again. 

But the breaks always ended too early for them and thus Wooyoung and Mingi were heading to meet up with their crew, but not before doing some "shopping" for Wooyoung. 

Mingi was forced to blankly follow the younger around, watching him buy seemingly random things like a jacket he really didn't need and four cans of joint oil, that he of course made Mingi hold for him despite the protests. 

Mismatched eyes scanned the marketplace as he waited, watching the beings around them. the poor families who sold their crafts and weapons to scrap by and eat for the night, the horribly hidden ripper docs and made up girls and boys who walked around in thin clothing that showed too much skin and metal for the cold temperatures. 

Mingi tapped his foot on the metal ground, turning back around and seeing Wooyoung finally walk back to him, face bright with a smile as he waved around a pair of boots and pants like he'd won a trophy. The red head snorts at his friend's childishness. 

"'Sure you can afford all that?"

Wooyoung pouts at him, blonde hair falling into his face and making him look slightly innocent despite Mingi knowing just how far from it he really was.

"Of course! Do you think I haven't been working over break? I'm not you!"

"You fucking punk!"

the two bolt away, Wooyoung sprinting as fast as his legs will carry him, high pitched cackles leaving his lips, and Mingi hot on his tail.

  
  
  



	3. Chapter 2

The first time Mingi saw a spacecraft, he was 15.

He'll never forget the gasp he let out or the rush of adrenaline that pumped through his veins as he stepped foot onto the metal deck for the first time. Since then he's been on countless ships, but that childlike wonder has never once left him. 

Stepping into the Loading and Departure area and laying mismatched eyes on the beautiful ship he calls his second home is no exception.

The ATEEZ, an older medium sized military grade spacecraft, was still as gorgeous as the day he joined her crew. Sure, the orange highlight paint is chipping in places and blends into the onyx metal, the left wing has a hole straight through the middle from the first and last time Wooyoung tried to fly the damn thing, and so what if the boarding ramp has to be kicked after it stops halfway down or up, it's still breathtaking.

Maybe Mingi is just a sap, maybe they need a new ship.

But regardless of personal value, the ATEEZ was still impressive.

She's a dangerous ship, she's been built back during the War of The Red Sun, built to withstand different ballistic bullets and missiles as well as having a double layered defense shield that only malfunctioned 40% of the time now. The ATEEZ was a beast, and Mingi was happy to call her theirs.

The few guards that patrolled the docks nodded at the two approaching boys, familiar faces no longer needing to scan their ID Holotags.

Mingi watched as Wooyoung dragged his feet beside him, much less enthusiastic about boarding the ship than himself.

Wooyoung always said he loved open space, but quickly got antsy and claustrophobic when aboard any and all spacecraft. It made Mingi wonder why the D'Morian left his home planet to spend the rest of his life on a cramped ship.

Wooyoung was one of only two members on their crew who refused to speak of his time before joining, and despite having known Wooyoung for almost three years now, the younger had still yet to tell him anything.

At first Mingi had always assumed it had been a reason similar to Mingis own, Wooyoung had a way of holding himself that reminded Mingi of the ideals of the Solar Core. But the D'Morian had admitted to never having stepped foot into the academy, and had apparently been the third to join Hongjoongs slowly forming crew.

From what Mingi knew of D'Mor it seemed odd for someone to leave and then refuse to speak of as to why.

D'Mor itself was a tropical and ocean filled planet the size of Mars, a very popular tourist attraction and vacation spot for those around the universe, especially for the wealthy among the Milky Way. 

The tall earthling patted the grumbling kid on the shoulder, internally cringing at the awkward act, before stepping onto the ATEEZs loading dock, boots clanking on the metal as he climbed.

Inside is cleaner than the last time he was aboard, and he can only assume that Seonghwa was already there, or at least had been there not long ago. As he and Wooyoung enter the deck his assumption is proven correct.

Sitting in the swiveling Captains chair is Hongjoong, in all of his glory. He's dressed in plain dark clothes, with his long tailed jacket thrown over the back on the chair.

Hongjoong was one of the only humans Mingi had met since he'd left Earth. With humans and Earth being one of the newest additions to the Intergalactic Treaty agreement of 2068, a year before his birth, they had yet to rise up in ranks amongst the millions of well established alien races that had founded the Treaty to begin with. All of this meant that mankind had still not fully embraced space travel, let alone the thought of living in it.

Humans were almost like a rare commodity among space. Mingi had met a whopping total of four in his time as both a soldier and a pirate.

Hongjoong is sitting leaned back, feet propped up on the navigation control board like a table, leather boots leaving a small dirt stain on the otherwise clean gray metal and screens. beside him stands a younger boy, who's turned his attention to face the newcomers.

The boy had dark black hair, falling in his face and hiding his softly glowing blue eyes. He wore a dark purple swear, sleeves bunched up to his elbows and dark jeans with a large Holorifle strapped to his back by a holder. The kid smiled at Mingi and Wooyoung softly.

Jongho, the biggest oddity to their crew.

While only two of them were from Earth the others were still humans really, all bled the same, looked similar and had similar biological makeups, Jongho was flat out not human at all. Not that you could tell by anything other than his eyes.

The average height and muscular boy was in fact a Generation 4 Battlefield Synthetic Humanoid, made in the Obsidian Institution of Technology. Better known as an Android or just Synth. A robot made for war and the military. Hardened battle machines with no humanity besides their physical features.

Jongho however never got around being a soldier. Jongho was defective.

"Hell-o -zzzst- Mingi! H-Hello -zzzst- Wooyoung!"

Mingi would still remember the day that they had found their newest and youngest friend. Jongho had been walking around an abandoned Robotics building in the just as abandoned planet of P-1100, a small planet that the OIT had used to produce a small portion of it's Battlefield Androids during the War of The Red Sun. Seonghwa had spotted him while the others were looking for fusion cores, and damn did Yeosang had a field day on repairing the very broken G4 BSH, later named Jonho by Hongjoong.

Jonho of course hadn't had any real memories, he had no name nor no purpose. His voice box was damaged during his manufacturing and it was obvious that the scientists had simply let his fusion core drain and tossed him in the dumpster to rust.

It had taken a while for Yeosang to get him fully operational, and thank the stars for their engineers' abilities. Jongho became family within a matter of hours of being active. He was still glitchy to this day, but he was a good fighter and a good friend to them all.

Mingi smiled back at their youngest crew mate before turning to the others who now have their attention on him and Wooyoung.

Yeosang sat on the bench seat against the wall, bits and pieces of work in progress tech around him and on his lap. Dark hair pushed out of his face and shoved under a black beanie and dressed the most casual out of the group. The others signature pale and hazy blue eyes landing on Mingi, and curving a bit to compliment the small smile on his lips.

Like Yeosang, Seonghwa is sitting on the same bench, however instead of being surrounded by electronics and circuits he's tapping away on his smart pad. dark hair combed and styled, and clothes oddly fancy for some pirate. His extended pointy ears, the raised scar like marks on his cheek bones and yellow tinted skin giving away his race as easily as Yeosangs.

Seonghwa was Elven, specifically an Altmer hailing from the multi race inhabited planet of Nirn far off in the Aetherius Galaxy. Seonghwa had been the first to Hongjoong, having been friends for years before, and took place as the crew's resident parent. He went against the typical Altmer personality, instead of being full of himself he was one of the kindest people Mingi had ever met.

Being Altmer meant he had a natural ability to wield magic, and excelled in healing magic specifically. And thus his position as their resident Doctor was set into stone the first time one of them had gotten injured while on a job.

Behind him, Mingi hears Wooyoung speak to Hongjoong, and turns to peep into the conversation.

"So boss, Sang said we had a contract but refused to tell me what was up. What'cha got for us?"

Hongjoong sits up properly in his chair before spinning it around to fully face the crew. He holds a laid back demeanor, resting his cheek against his raised hand as he leans to one side.

"Yup! We got a some Merc work"

Mingi frowns in confusion.

"Wait, if it's just a mercenary run then why all the dramatics?"

The captain cleared his throat, sitting back up straight and locking his fingers to rest over his stomach.

"Jeong Yunseok of Valkar is the employer."

the dead silence that blankets the ship deck is suffocating, the weight of the words spoken by their captain settling on their shoulders and pressing down. Two problems arose from the statement, the place and the person.

Valkar was a small unknown planet light-years away from Solaris and beyond the IGA rule jurisdiction. Very little was known about the planet or it's people.

it was more of a story you'd tell children as bedtime stories.

What people did know was that Valkar had a monarchy government, and Jeong Yunseok just happened to be the current ruling king as well as a direct descendant of the founding family. He was a powerful and aggressive man, one that many had heard the rumors of.

For a man of his power to be employing such a small group of mercs while he has an entire army at his fingertips, it felt suspicious to Mingi.

But there was also the problem of one of their own opinions.

There's an unspoken link with the crew as they each spare a short glance at the techie who sat still, hunched over his work. Yeosang keeps his head down, but Mingi can see his tense shoulders and the slight stutter in his hands as he fiddles with a few wires.

The technician and mechanic of ATEEZ was a Valkarie by blood but not heart. Mingi could remember the day the older had joined the crew, only a year after himself. if Yeosangs sickly blue eyes and pale skin hadn't been a dead give away of his race, the warrant for his arrest under the Kings Demand had been.

Of course Yeosang, like Wooyoung, never actually told the crew why he'd left or why he currently had a bounty for his head worth 2.5 million credits, dead or alive.

Those two were the ATEEZs mysteries.

Hongjoongs voice breaks Mingis' concerned trance with an inaudible gasp.

"I've accepted the job."

Seonghwa jerks his head in their captain's direction, eyes wide and eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Hongjoong...do you really think that's a good idea?"

"The job pays 6 million."

The beat of silence speaks for itself. Because in the end, 6 million credits could set them up for a year if they split it evenly amongst them. Mingi wouldn't have to take extra jobs around the base to make his rent, Wooyoung could finally upgrade his cyberoptics to a higher grade, Hongjoong wouldn't lose so much sleep worrying over his friends, Yeosang could buy new and better equipment, they could all do so much.

all at the expense of a suspicious contract and the possibility of a crew mates arrest.

"We dispatch in an hour."


	4. chapter 3

  
  
  
  


Open Space never failed to amaze Mingi, like the enthusiasm of ships. There's something beautiful but foreboding about the empty never and ending planes that both fills him with glee and paranoia at the same time.

Miles upon miles of loneliness, only their ship until the next habitable planet or space city. but the gaps between the communities grew much further apart the farther from Solaris you go.

Mingi sat in the -steadily growing uncomfortable- co-pilot's chair, inking away the tired tears in his eyes as he stared at the navigation screens in front of him. He's not doing much, the ship is on autopilot mode with the destination locked in, he's really just looking at the pretty lights.

in the chair next to him sits Hongjoong, the elders head slowly dropping to one side before jerking back up straight in a fight with sleep.

The remaining crew were either asleep or locked away in their rooms, all having retreated hours ago.

Sleep scheduling while in space was a constant problem, something Mingi never truly adjusted to after leaving Earth. The lack of consistent day and night cycling made his biological clock confused, insomnia taking over and eating away at his brain.

The Solaris had an artificial cycle, but didn't do much good to Mingi who spent so much time away from it.

Mingi sighed as he leaned back in his chair, back popping as he moved with a slightly painful crack that had him wincing. old injuries never did age well.

Being possibly the only one awake on the ship had its own sense of loneliness, the soft groans of the surrounding metal and the hiss of the oxygen vents being the only company. Sure his friends were within reach, but it felt too lonely even then.

Mingi shifted again in his seat, turning to his captain as the older slumps in his chair even more.

The small male in the chair couldn't be further from his title of The Pirate King. Hongjoong was too caring of his crew, too soft hearted for his enemies. How he developed the cursed name in his teenage years was beyond Mingi.

Mingi shifted to get up, stepping to his leader's sleeping form and gently shaking his shoulder.

"Captain, come'on you should go to bed."

Hongjoong groans as he pops his head back up, brown eyes blurrily blinking up at the pilot and almost pouting as he comes out of his brief dreamland.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going-"  
  


BOOM  
  


Mingi and Hongjoong shoot up to their full heights, the blur of sleep gone in a blink at the loud sound that shook the ship.

"What the fuck was that?!"

"What the -"

Mingi turns around to stare at the ships display screens, emergency and warning lights flashing in multiple spots as he tries to see what happened. There's so many distracting lights and words that his brain is getting muddy with panic.

By some miracle he hears Yeosangs voice with the two bodies that have bolted into the deck.

"What happened? That sounded like a thruster got popped!"

Mingi feels his body being pushed to the side and turns to see the flash of pale skin and dark clothes moving to hunch over the display screens just like Mingi himself.

Yeosang looks around for a brief moment before cursing under his breath. The Valkarie groans, smacking his hand on the screen to change the display to a different diagram of the ship.

"It really was that fucking thruster! Fuck!"

Mingi sees his friend's shoulder tense up as he continues to mumble out curses in both standard and some other language that the taller had heard him speak before.

He speaks up, trying to calm his friend down a bit as the rest of the crew slowly pile into the flight deck to see what the problem was.

"Yeosang calm down, what happened?"

The techy sighs in frustration, rubbing a hand down over his face as he replies. the soft lisp becoming more apparent as his tension rises.

"The left thruster just blew, the one we snagged on that tree back on Volder a few months ago, and the explosion knocked a whole in one of the ventilation tubes. _Tihs_! I was hoping it would hold out on us until when got back!"

Off to the side comes Hongjoongs voice, worry lacing each word.

"Wait, it damaged a vent-tube? how bad is it?"

"I'm not sure, the censors are saying that it's leaking our oxygen pretty slow but we need to fix it soon. "

a curse and a best of silence.

Hongjoong claps his hands together suddenly, causing the crew to look towards their leader.

"Okay! Mingi!"

The earthling pulls himself to his full height, instinctively blanking his face and awaiting orders.

"Find us the closest habited planet or star or station!" Mingi nods stiffly and does as he's told. Hongjoong turns to Yeosang "Yeo, can the other thrusters handle a jump or two?"

The Valkarie frowns and chews at his lip, glancing around the screens in front of him.

A hyper jump strained ships, especially older models like the ATEEZ, after all she was a war ship not a jet. Even at full armor capacity and fully functioning thrusters the ship could only jump about ten clicks before they started having engine and shield damage.

Now they were one thruster down and a touchy vent-tube outside that could tear at any moment and suffocate them all.

But it's a pressing time because Mingi pipes up, voice unsure with his possible information.

"We got a IGA Aligned planet two clicks away straight ahead!"

Hongjoong nods

"Yeosang?"

Blue eyes darting around the screens more, before their owner sighs heavily and nods.

"Do it, but we're gonna need serious repairs."

At the okay Mingi darts to his flight chair as everyone else follows along and starts strapping themselves down for the jumps.

Mingi pulls himself up to his command desk, popping up the steering wheel from its collapsed hideaway and taking the ship out of the auto pilot.

The wheel jerks in his hands, the force of the off kilter thrusters making the ship try to veer to the right without the autopilot to force it steady. He pulls against the tilt, the ship moving with his guidance.

Mingi takes a moment to readjust to the ship's movements, figuring out how much over correction he needed before he spoke up, more to himself than anything.

"...Automatic Piloting Assistance mode disengaged...Manual Drive in progress...preparing for jump..." he taps at the screens in front of him and on the steering wheel before speaking again but this time directed at the crew. "Everyone strapped down?"

there's a chorus of affirmatives from the others, Mingi nods to himself.

"Brace for take off, initiating hyper acceleration in 3...2...1..."

There's no gravity in open space, but they still get pressed into their seats as soon as Mingis finger presses the final button.

The stars seem to speed by them, dashes of light passing them as they're shot through the stretch of space. The ATEEZ is shuddering, metal whining at the speed and force, and causes it's crew to tense and hold their breath.

Mingi grips at the wheel, trying his best to keep the ship from darting off in the wrong direction, as his ears pop at the pressure. Hongjoong is in the captain's chair again, but this time his skin is pale and his eyes are clenched shut. Wooyoung is like the captain, although he looks much more nauseous.

Yeosang and Seonghwa are both tense, gripping their seats and letting themselves be pushed by the force instead of fighting it.

Jongho is the only one not affected, his heavy weight keeping him from being pushed back, and simply sits comfortably as he waits.

The jump seems to go on forever, when in reality it only lasts 30 seconds.

as they pull to a sudden normal pace, everyone jerks forward. body's relaxing and their ships artificial gravity catching up to them all.

Wooyoung gags, metal hand pressing to his mouth to keep down his stomachs acid. Everyone else minus Jongho and Mingi are hunched over in their seats, gasping for air and rubbing their heads as the headaches start.

Jongho is already unbuckling himself, standing up and walking up to his friends to check on each of them.

Meanwhile Mingi is taking shallow breaths as he squints his eyes at the planet now in front of them.

The scan he did earlier had said that the planet, Valdor, was mainly used as a pitstop for scavers and travelers. Sitting just on the edge of the IGAs jurisdiction made it a good spot for anyone who didn't want to journey farther into the IGAs territory but still needed supplies and fuel.

Valdor was a small planet, it was 73% dessert with the rest being oceans that were sparsely spread out around the planet. Most of the inhabitants lived underground, the hot sun near the planet heating up the sands to almost uninhabitable levels during the day.

Mingi grunted as he felt the ship vibrating as he turned it towards the large dark spot on the planet. The biggest city, Okenveil, was their destination.   
  


To say that they had a rough landing was an understatement.

By the time Mingi was only 200 feet from landing on the visitors dock they had seen open there had been another loud and violent boom that had the crew both flinching and groaning At the same time.

thruster number two was out.

Yeosang had sang his curses towards the ceiling before dashing up to Mingi to look at the warning screens again.

The stress of the jump had been too much and burnt out their right thruster too, leaving the ship with only one. so, it leads to the current situation.

Hongjoong had distressfully ordered Yeosang and Jongho to look into fixing the ship, sent Seonghwa out to ask around about finding a repair garage, and finally sent Mingi and Wooyoung out to replenish their food and water supplies.

Mingi probably wouldn't have minded being tagged up with the D'Mor native if the other wouldn't make so many suggestive gestures at the surrounding females and males.

Those unnerving white eyes winking shamelessly at a pair of blue skinned Kree women with long flowing black hair, who both let out equally shameless giggles as they whisper to themselves.

Now it's not that Mingi has a problem or cares about what or who Wooyoung chooses to stick his dick it, but he does have a problem when the younger tries to skip out on work to do said activity.

So, as Wooyoung is trying to walk up to the two, albeit beautiful, women, Mingi has no problem grabbing the back collar of the aliens jacket and very forcefully yanking him back towards himself and past the now pouting girls.

Wooyoung squawks in protest, voice coming out at a high pitch with each word.

"What?! Mingi let me go damnit! L-Ladies! I'll be back soon!"

Mingi scoffs, pushing the shorter ahead of him and letting go of him with a glare as he stumbles.

"We have a fucking job Wooyoung, stop thinking with your dick and use the brain that rolls around in your skull."

Wooyoung groans at him, fixing his now messed up clothes and pouting like an overgrown child as he curses his friend.

"Hey, don't judge me! You may be a celibate nun but that doesn't mean I have to be."

"What?! What the fuck Wooyoung, it has nothing to do with that! Captain asked us to get supplies and you're too busy trying to catch glances up short skirts! I'm not lugging enough supplies for six people by myself, so get a move on you fucker!" Mingi growls out, ready to smack his friend on the side of his head.

Thankfully the other relents, stomping ahead of Mingi with his head down and hands clenched at his sides. The red head could care less about Wooyoung's little tantrum.

The two walk down the market streets in a new silence, one still pouting while the other stares at each shop sign in hopes of finding a good option.

The Valdorian sun is just now rising in the west, casting a red glow on the horizon. The market is busy, with people running about to finish their shopping while a few of the smaller shops are already closing, preparing themselves for the heat of day.

Towards the end of the street hangs a sign that peaks Mingis interest. Painted in the boxy Valdorian language, drawings of vegetables native to the planet, is their best shot.

**Kyungsoos** ** Crops**   
_ **sand yams, hopper meat, beatle jam and more!** _

It's a medium sized booth, the front display tables filled with food and meats that almost makes Mingis mouth water.

There's a man sitting on a chair in the middle of the surrounding tables, he's hunched over as his hands peel away the shell of something that reminds Mingi of Earth corn, however instead of rows of nubbed teeth there's a light yellow mushy jelly substance inside.

Once the two have stopped in front the stall the man looks up, hands halting as large eyes look up in curiosity. He speaks up, voice deep and his tongue looping around the rash sounding Valdorian language so fast that Mingis translator implant can barely keep up.

**"Welcome, what can I assist you with today?" **

"Um...oh shit, okay. H-Hi...you speak...?" Mingi stumbles over the foreign language, pronunciation cutting up the syllables as he and Wooyoung both cringe. "you speak...s-standard?"

The man's eyes widen, almost like an owl, and he suddenly stands up, a nervous look taking over as he speaks again.

"Y-Yes, standard speech is not very well. but I speak little, un-understand very well."

Just like Mingi the man, who he assumes is Kyungsoo, stutters and stumbles over each word. although his pronunciation is much better than Mingis attempt at another language. The two pirates can't help the relief as they're shoulders slump.

Translation implants worked wonders for hearing or reading different languages, however when the owner needed to speak it? no help what's so ever. At least not Mingi or Wooyoung's implant levels.

For some reason, the thought of a language barrier didn't even come up in their plans after they had landed. Although there was some higher being looking out for them apparently.

Mingi requested what he wanted to buy, Wooyoung adding a few things on the list with the excuse of Jongho never having tried it yet, but the older man knew that the casanova just wanted to try it himself.

Kyungsoo seemed a bit bewildered at the amount of food that Mingi and Wooyoung asked for, the bill growing as fast as the small farmers' stock disappeared into the bags.

"You are buying many, I hope you don't plan on eating it all by yourselves. is only two of you?" The man asks, switching between both languages subconsciously, as he bags up the final batch of red sand yams and hands it off to Mingi.

Mingi pauses for a moment as his translator lags, before shaking his head and smiles.

"No, we're restocking our pantry for our ship. It takes a lot of food to feed six guys."

Kyungsoo bursts out a boxy smile, one that makes Mingi want to smile more at the sight of it.

"Oh! Adventure? Where are you going?"

"Do you know Valkar? It's not far from here..." Speaks Wooyoung, who's skillfully holding all three of his stuffed bags with his prosthetic arm without strain. Mingi is only slightly jealous, he almost wishes he'd gotten the same cyberware.

Ask the question leaves the D'Morians lips however, Kyungsoos smile drops and holds a weary expression instead.

"You go to Valkar?" He shifts in his spot uncomfortably, darting his eyes around to crowds.

Mingi frowns, sharing a brief look with Wooyoung who is also frowning in confusion. The red head turns back to the small man in front of them and speaks in a softer voice, sensing the sudden cautious and shady movements of the other.

"Yes, why? Is something wrong?"

Kyungsoo looks very nervous, eyes still darting around behind the two pirates. He mumbles something under his breath, something that neither of their translators pick up, before locking his doe eyes onto Mingis own brown and red ones.

The man leans in a bit, and speaks softly.

"Valkar King is scaring fellow beings... He is aggressive more now" a pause, switching to his native tongue as his limited words fumble around "**beware adventurer, the king does not take kindly to visitors. war is coming, planets who are aligned with the IGA are being targeted...**"

Mingi frowns, because while this isn't extremely new news, the fear and nervousness that Kyungsoo shows about speaking of it is concerning.

Yunseok had been a topic brought up even when Mingi first moved to The Solaris. His aggression towards outsiders and none Valkarie beings was well known and made him a target of interest for the IGAs Military.

While there was no proof of his racism towards others and his mental instability, the rumors and short worded claims sparked much controversy amongst the IGAs inhabitants.

Kyungsoo spoke like this man was now threatening the civilizations around him, just outside of the IGAs territory. a true crime if it was true.

But the Valdorian mentioned IGA Aligned settlements were being pushed, why was this not being talked about around Solaris?

Mingi might not be a soldier anymore, but he did live around old gossiping aliens.

The earthling had heard no whispers of possible war, not a word of Valkars stance, not even a mention of smaller planets and settlement colonies being harassed. Just how much was true?

Mingi didn't take Kyungsoo for a liar, but it seemed weird.

Kyungsoo is about to speak more when he stops, eyes just passed Mingis left shoulder, and takes a shaky breath. The voice from behind Mingi startles him. Familiar lisp barely comfort him, the coldness of the tone is unnerving.

"Mingi. Wooyoung. It's time to go."

Mingi turns his head to see Yeosang and Jongho standing behind him and Wooyoung. Pale Blue eyes are harsh, cutting like glass as they stare past the two men and straight into the merchants being.

The red head swears he can see the thin veins around Yeosangs eyes glow with a soft golden light. but it's gone as the older swiftly spins on his heels and walks away.

Wooyoung and Jongho follow after, taking the bags with them and leaving Mingi alone with the very startled merchant.

Kyungsoos tan skin is pale, sweat is slowly beading up along his hairline, and he gulps when Mingi turns back to him. The pirate sighs.

"I'm sorry about him, he's a cold person...how much?"

Kyungsoo shakes his head and spits off a price, sadly leaving a large dent in Mingis bank account as he scans his card over the small scanning display the other had held up to him.

He is about to walk away when the Valdorian speaks up again, voice almost a whisper.

**"Watch your friend, that man holds dark secrets. secrets that will get you killed."**

Mingi didn't take Kyungsoo for a liar. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> un edited


	5. chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> short

To say that the costs of replacing two rocket thrusters for an older ship model was expensive was an understatement.

Finding the correct models for the ATEEZ wasn't too hard according to Yeosang, but the 68k credits each carved a serious hole into their pockets. Mingi had never cringed more or seen Hongjoong so pale before after seeing the total.

They put tape around the vent tube.

But, two members covered in grease and a few hours later, they finally had lift off. Though, there was a tense atmosphere surrounding four crew mates.

Hongjoong and Seonghwa were starting to catch on, noticing how the other three members were actively avoiding Yeosang.

Mingi had eventually pulled Jongho aside and asked what had happened with Yeosangs attitude not long after they all had returned to the ship, but the synth had just shrugged and said that Yeosang had been acting that way since they had stepped on the planets sands.

The red haired man would have asked Yeosang directly, but in all honesty he was slightly afraid of the Valkarie. Despite Mingi being taller and more muscular, Yeosang had this aura around him. This feeling of strength and madness that floated around him like a blanket.

Yeosang was by all accounts a sweet guy, a bit shy even. but there were times and days that Yeosang was just different.

Mingi can only guess that today was one of those days, with the stress of the ship's failures and having to go back to his home planet it would probably be off for him to be all shy smiles and distracted tinkering. but the others kept their distance.

it wasn't too hard thankfully, since Yeosang spent the majority of his time either in the engine block, watching the motors, or sitting silently in the deck with his toys.

today Yeosang was in neither, but instead locked away in his room.

But Mingi couldn't get Kyungsoo's statement out of his mind, or the fear he showed at Yeosangs arrival.

Yeosang was by far their most secretive and mysterious crew member, so for this seemingly random town person to recognize him to some extent rubbed Mingi the wrong way.

But, regardless of anything Yeosang had done in his past, he was still a current member of the ATEEZ, and thus Mingi would have to live with the bubbling curiosity.

The tense atmosphere didn't seem to affect their travels thankfully, with Yeosang locked away by himself or with Jongho, it left only Mingi and Wooyoung glancing at each other with shifty and uncomfortable eyes.

The entire liftoff Mingi could also feel his captain's gaze glaring into the side of his head, and he was just waiting for the olders voice to ask him what was up. though it never comes.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


_"Approaching target location, ETA set to 10 minutes and 43 seconds. Please advise, approach with caution. "_


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You have reached your destination, proceed with caution.

Mingi had seen many planets, met many races and experienced many cultures in his years living in space. 

from his home planet of Earth to the cat folk of Elsweyr and the underwater cities of Molkgar or the burning volcanoes of Talisa. 

He's seen a lot, but the mysterious planet of Valkar makes his blood buzz with wonder. 

Valkar had turned into a fictional wonderland, becoming a tale told to children and trainees to amaze them. stories of mystical people and castles. a Utopia like none other. With nobody leaving, the normal citizens' theories ran rampant. He wondered how true any of them were. 

Besides the Kings Rule, stories of the people being cold to outsiders felt more like facts. Nobody left, nobody entered. It was told to be beautiful, a Utopia with marble castles and elegant beings. Blue skies and waterfalls that dropped into pools of golden rocks. It supposedly rained diamonds, and those got hoarded by the natives. 

but the large planet that came into their view wasn't covered in blue Sky's and oceans. Instead the planet is white, snow storm clouds covering the atmosphere and swirling around in smokey patterns. Two small moons sit in rotation, one a dark red while it's partner is a soft blue. It floats in space with no other planets around it, only floating around a very small star that keeps it habitable.

it's almost mesmerising, and Mingi has a hard time taking his eyes off of the sight to control the ship. 

Suddenly there's an alarm, the ATEEZs warning system alerting them with it's loud robotic voice.

**Caution, entering atmosphere. **

**Suspicious aircrafts approaching. **

Mingi darts his eyes down to the navigation screens, seeing three small red indicator dots inching closer to their location. Hongjoong tenses in his seat. 

Finally the incoming ships come into full view of their ships bay window, four small but sleek and sharp designed jets with pure white metal and a crest on each wing. An eight pointed star with two arrows spinning around it. 

The crafts hover in front of the ATEEZ, forcing the pirates to do the same, like an awkward standoff. Their AI bleeps at them over the intercom again.

**incoming call...**

Mingi sees Hongjoong sit up in his seat and square his shoulders, putting on his leader mask. The red head laughs in his head at the sight, It's hard taking a man seriously when you've walked into his bedroom while he's dressed in footie pajamas and clunky headphones on as he dances around his cabin. 

Hongjoong accepts the call. 

Their line cracks, a deep voice filling the air with a foreign language that Mingi has heard only a few times from Yeosang.

**"ssenisub ruoy etats"**

His translator lags, the voice playing back in a now robotic voice in his head. 

_ state your business _

"We were invited by King Jeong Yunseok?" 

Hongjoong responds,voice surprisingly steady for how much his hands twitch from their place on his chairs armrests. Mingi gives him props for that, it reminds him why the older is their Captain. 

there's another click and the voice is back. 

".setarip ,yarts ton od .latipac eht ot uoy trocse ew sa su wollof esaelp ,yako .ylrae yad a er'uoy ,egnarts woh"

The man speaks so quickly that Mingis translator cuts out, skipping words and leaving the human confused as he catches only the words; follow, early, and pirates.

as Mingi looks to the side at the crew he notices that he's not the only one struggling, and only Yeosang, who's been sitting in the corner of the bench he's taken over, looks unaffected. 

The Valkar native speaks up, voice soft once the call ends with the man's final words. 

"He said to follow their ships to the capital and to not fall behind or veer off..." 

Mingi nods, trying to seem professional even though his palms are getting sweaty with nerves, and pushes their ship forward.

The Valkarie guards lead the crew down towards the surface, where the land is just as white as the clouds. a frozen tundra of solid lakes and tall mountains. it's beautiful, but the cold from the outside air seeps into the ship slowly and makes the crew shiver. 

"The stories never said that it was so...snowy..."

mumbles Wooyoung while he pulls on his jacket and stares out the windows. 

Yeosang laughs, harsh and sarcastic.

"Those stories are bullshit, nothing is true about them." 

Mingi almost finds himself disheartened, because he himself loved the stories spread around about the Utopia that was Valkar. It was the first tale he was told during his basic training, and one he held close to his heart. But he understands that they were just that, stories told by people who had never personally stepped foot onto the planet. 

Regardless of the slight disappointment he felt, Valkar was still quite beautiful. 

They flew by tall mountains, covered in the blankets of white snow, and occasionally the small convoy passed over tiny towns and villages with people bustling. 

Wooyoung was pressed against their far deck window, staring out at the view like a child in a candy store. Jongho was beside him, looking out with both curiosity and confusion. 

Yeosang was speaking softly to Seonghwa off to the side, heads ducked together to whisper. Hongjoong is tense in his chair, however the man suddenly lets out a string of curses before spinning around in his chair. 

Mingi and the rest of the crew, minus Jongho, all whip their heads in his direction, eyes wide in alarm at their Captain's movements. 

"Yeosang," He starts "tell us everything we need to know about this planet. You can't leave the ship, so we're going to be in the dark the entire time…" 

The Valkarie sighs and stands up, walking to the window next to Wooyoung and Jongho to look out at his native lands. His fingers touch the thick glass and the tiny branches of ice that's slowly coating the window. 

He turns to face the crew, and it's at that moment that Mingi remembers how young Yeosang is, how young they all are. They're all still barely adults, and yet they'd all seen either war or the darkest parts of a beings morale, even if Yeosangs normally blank but kind personality made them forget that. 

"I've been gone for so long now, I'm not sure how much has changed. I mean…" He pauses, crossing his arms over his chest in a nervous manner. He shifts his weight, and Mingi finds himself feeling sad for putting the older through this. 

"Anything can help us, Sang." Their Captain offers, his face is soft and concerned, warm in a way. The Engineer relaxes a bit. 

"The Valkarie used to be very kind but cautious people, but before I left they had become very cold and closed minded. Our King became a dictator, he's closed off in The White Chapel, the Royal Castle. From what I remember he rarely faced the citizens of The Capital, let alone the surrounding villages and cities. Getting an audience from him and the Royal family was like finding a speck of dust in space, the fact that he's employed us makes me suspicious and nervous." He pauses "The military is strong, and it's the only outsourcing we did back then…" 

Mingi hummed, his eyes dancing between Yeosang speaking, the display screens and the front window.

"Outsourcing? So what your armies aren't Valkarie?" 

Yeosang nods, despite Mingi not having been able to see at that moment. 

"Yeah, around the year I turned 12 The King made a contract with the Dust Eaters of Sithmorse, you've probably heard of them…" 

The crew paled, minus Jonho, because that name, Dust Eaters, held so much weight amongst the IGA and it's citizens. 

Back before any of them were born there had been a large power struggle war between none other than the Intergalactic Alliance and the War Lord ruler of Sithmorse, a Titan by the name of Frey. 

Sithmorse had been a very proud and respected desert planet, it's people, the Sithus, were known for their military advantages and unparalleled and intense training programs. Beasts of war, trained for anything and everything. The Sithus were often hired as high end Bodyguards or deadly Mercenaries.

The name Dust Eater had come from the planets Dust storms that raged like none other, but those only made the Sithus stronger. 

However at some point the War Lord had become power hungry, signing away his life to a Celestial named Necroa, asking for more power at the expense of his sanity. 

And so The Titan had devoured thousands of distant planets, and had no intention of stopping. Powered by pure madness and endless strength. 

Mingi remembers the stories from the oldest Generals and Veterans during his time in the Solar Core, tales of the battle at the Red Sun, a year long battle that ended in many IGA Soldiers and civilians lost in the fire fight and repercussions that followed. 

The Titan Frey had fallen, the Madness that had consumed his mind had left the moment he'd been hit with the final attack, but his cults and followers remained. Sure they weren't hellbent on ending civilizations like their master had been, but there was bad blood. 

The once high and respected race left tainted and soiled. And the King of Valkar had employed them. 

Mingi felt a shiver run up his spine, Kyungsoo's words spoke in the back of his head. The King was starting to sound like the Titan, and the thought of the Dust Eaters raising again or worse another being like Frey undoubtedly scared him. It scared them all. 

Yeosang continued to speak

"there's one more thing" 

The crew look back towards the man, their faces still pale but anticipating his next words. He frowns, more to himself than anything. 

"Since I won't be able to go with you to translate or help, just know that you'll meet a man named San. Not many Valkarie speak Standard, but he's one of the few that I know for sure do." 

Hongjoong nods, but frowns. 

"We can't just look around for him though, we have to go straight to the castle right? Plus you said you haven't been back in years, how do you know he's still there? How do we even get into contact with him?" 

Yeosang shares a small, almost guilty smile. "Don't worry, San is still in the castle, and actually now that I think about it, he'll probably find you all first…" 

Mingi frowns deeper, and suddenly the large and beautiful white Castle that's coming into view is unsettling to him. 

"Guys, sorry to interrupt but we're here…" 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The four Valkarie jets lead the crew to a large docking area off to the side near the front of the looming pure white Castle, the ATEEZs black and orange colors sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the white jets and battleships that had been parked around them. 

The crew all felt tense, the thought of having to leave one of their teammates alone on a new planet, while not new to Yeosang, felt strange and their Captain had been very verbal of his concern and anxiety of the situation. As if he didn't get them into it to begin with. 

The ship's thermal scans had displayed that the surface temperature of Valkar was sixteen degrees, well below freezing and far too cold for any of the guys, including Jonho this time. He felt himself shivering. 

The others were already pulling on their makeshift uniforms, but those thin black leather coats and bulky armors would do nothing against the cold outside. Wooyoung was shivering the worst, flinching everytime his metal arm tapped his skin as he pulled on his combat suit. 

Mingi felt his left hand joints tighten up, the already normally cold skin now freezing to the touch much like Wooyoung's arm. His back and left leg tightened up too, old injuries aching at the sudden change in temperature. Their ship's thermostat did nothing to keep the chill out. 

Hongjoong was standing in the middle of the deck, dressed up in his own long black leather cloak, the hood pulled up and his helmet already covering his face. The large old modified Shotgun on his back and the small silver and black pistol strapped to his thigh added to his much more menacing look. If Mingi didn't know who was behind that mask he'd be afraid. 

Wooyoung and Jongho were helping each other pull on their armor, the two Tanks having both more and heavier equipment to attach to themselves compared to the others. But Wooyoung and Jongho were their muscle, both incredibly strong, Jongho obviously more so, and intimidating once in their suits. 

Mingi could never see himself as a Tank, it took too much training to walk around in all that metal let alone be agile enough to fight in a battle. He much preferred just flying his ships or darting around rocks for firecover. But he understood how useful they were in combat, having two fully armored big gun wielding fighters helped them in a few sticky situations. 

Mingi watched as the two stood up properly, both a good four inches taller due to their boots. The slightly beat up black and blue metals of their suits is intimidating, every inch of their bodies covered by metal plates and strong leathers at the joints. Their helms reminded him of motorcycle helmets back on earth, but instead of a thin dark glass there's three glowing eyes staring back at him. They made loud clunking noises against the metal floors of the ship as they moved around. 

Mingi pulls his gaze away to land on Yeosang and Seonghwa, who were both still in their civilian clothes while sitting on the same benches they normally occupied. 

Hongjoong had decided to have Seonghwa stay behind with Yeosang, besides there was no point in having a doctor come with them to review a job. He envied them a bit, not having to go and meet people. 

The human let out a sigh and began adjusting his clothes and duster, pulling the cape-like hood over his hair and grabbing the face mask that sat beside his gun. He placed it on his face, feeling more than hearing the retracted plating decompress and wrap around his head under the hood. Mingi blinked as the HUDs lights turned on and lit up his screen. 

you couldn't see his face, his mask appeared solid black to the outsiders view, but he could see everything. The system did a short bioscan, confirming who he was as well as rebooting itself after the long inactivity. The crew hadn't gone full dress in months. 

With the crew fully dressed and armed Hongjoong led the pack to the loading door, hitting his hand against the release button as he spoke through their comms system, his voice echoing away in Mingis ear. 

" _ Alright, here's the plan. One of the guards will escort us to the Castle, there we'll be taken to King Jeong and talk to him about the job, at least that's what I assume will happen. Switch to code names only, don't drop your helms and stay on your toes." _

The Captain explains as the door falls slowly, he turns Wooyoung and Jongho " _ Mist and Promise, I want you both to flank Win and I respectively, okay?"  _ They both nod, metal clanking a bit as they do so. Hongjoong turns to Mingi.

" _ I want you beside me at all times, you're my second in command for a reason."  _ The human jerks his head in a nod, it pleases his captain. 

Hongjoong turns back around as the door hits the ground with a thus, allowing the blasting cold air to hit the group, and makes his way outside. 

" _ Let's go boys. _ " 

The group all exited the ship, Mingi turning around, as Jongho stepped onto the snow covered ground, and hit the door with his boot to make it close. Ignoring the judgmental look he gets from the approaching Valkarie guard. 

The man is tall, maybe a centimeter above Mingi himself, with the same pale skin and sick looking blue eyes as Yeosang. Only instead of the loving but standoffish warmth that surrounds their friend, this man frowns with disgust on his face. 

He's dressed in a stark white button shirt with a thick black sash draped over his shoulder and around his waist, there are multiple badges and patches on the fabric, under a long white cloak that's clipped over his shoulder by more badges. His hair is pitch black and there are thick lines of black paint running from his bottom lip down his neck. 

Behind him stand two towering Dust Eaters, their dark red and black colors contrasting to the pure white surrounding them. Their metal masks are dented and covered in faded paint that were once symbols. They stand tall, cloaks and armor covering the dried skin like a shell while the double set of arms hold massive guns. Multiple black eyes stare down at the pirates from behind those old helms, the thin line of open metal being their only view allowance. Mingi watches the Dust Eaters like a hawk as his Captain speaks to the guard. 

"You're Desire, Captain of the 1024-KQF, correct?" The Guard asks, voice deep and accented as he speaks Standard. 

Hongjoong nods. 

"Yes Sir." 

The guard nods back, lifting a hand to gesture towards the Castle. 

"Thank you for coming, King Jeong is awaiting your arrival. I will escort you into the Chapel." 

Mingi frowns as the group starts following the Guard and Dust Eaters. The man had referred to the Castle as a Chapel, a holy place. Yeosang had called it that earlier too, but why?  _ The White Chapel _ . He feels uneasy the closer he gets to the place. 

  
  



	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingi can't get those eyes out of his head...

The main entrance to the Castle was just as beautiful as the outside land, with pristine white marble floors and high reaching walls painted just a tone darker.

Those walls attached to high ceilings, where elegant chandeliers hung half way down, the dripping glass and clear gems that decorated them shined in the light of the wall torches. Torches with pure white lights, balls of energy illuminating the massive Hall.

The group was so out of place, their dark blacks, reds, and blues all in stark contrast to the colorless surroundings. The clank of metal and the creak of leathers echoed down the Hall, even the Dust Eaters seemed to fit in better than the pirates.

The air around the crew was tense, and Mingi could see Wooyoung's cloved covered hands twitch in their place on his gun, fingers dangerously close to the trigger. He realized that he wasn't strange to feel so uneasy, this place held a different atmosphere.

It felt colder than the winds beyond the walls, it was empty despite the interior design. The Guard walked with no emotion, it was unnerving.

The human had good instincts, his gut had yet to fail him in sticky situations and he knew for a fact that something wasn't right about this place. Valkar, in all it's beauty, was triggering his paranoia the longer he stayed.

The guard they had been following suddenly stopped, causing the pirates to pause as well and watch him with curious eyes. They'd stopped at the mouth of the Hall, where it opened up to a room with two archways on the sides and a large gold and white staircase in front of them. The ceiling was glass, showing the two moons high in the sky.

Mingi stared at the massive painting above the stairs, a portrait of what he could on assume was the Royal family. A man, painted tall and broad, sat on a white throne, a beautiful woman Standing by his side and two small children on either side of the adults. The man wore a crown, tall in height with lines connecting the peaks like chains. Those pale blue eyes seemed to follow Mingi as he moved.

**"niatpaC ereh morf ti ekat ll'I" **

Mingi flinched at the sudden voice in front of them, soft but spooking him nonetheless. He brought his startled eyes down to a new man standing in front of them.

He was average height, with a slender build. The white tunic-like shirt he wore was cinched in at his stomach by a thick band of fabric with thin black chains that crossed around his torso and waist like jewelry. His hair was black with a white strip in his bangs, there were thin jewelry chains in his ears, and he had a teardrop shaped gem under one of his pale blue eyes.

The man seemed around Mingis age, a handsome face that seemed somehow both older and younger than he probably was.

The stranger turned to the group as the Guard and his Dust Eater friends left with stiff nods. His eyes are warm, and he speaks softly.

"Hello, my name is San. Welcome to Valkar!"

It's a bit of a 180° compared to what they expected and how the guards had acted. The man, San, seemed much more lively. His voice was kind, it held warmth to it that reminded Mingi of Yeosang. Yeosang, who had told them to trust a man named San.

"Hello, I'm Desire. Captain of the ATEEZ."

Hongjoong steps forward, he bows at the waist like a peasant meeting a royal, and causes Mingi to awkwardly bend at the waist to bow as well even though he's not sure why they're doing that.

There's a soft giggle from San, who has his hand raised to cover his mouth. The thin chains on his hand and wrist shift and catch the light. Mingi swears he can hear a sharp intake of breath come from one of the tanks behind him.

San smiles at Hongjoong, the pirate having straightened up with a fidgety stance. "There's no reason to bow to me, I'm not Royal. I'm just a servant, I was sent to finish escorting you to the Audience Hall."

Hongjoong clears his throat roughly, and nods. "Okay, lead the way please. "

San glances around the group, eyes blinking as he stops on each of them like a camera shutter, before tilting his head to the side and walking towards the archway to the left. Golden trim gleaming as the walk under it.

It's another hallway, just as long as the entrance Hall, with paintings on the walls of elder families and nobles as well as a few dark mahogany colored doors that remain shut and silent.

** _incoming private call…_ **

Mingi jerks as his helms AI bleeps in his ear, it's quiet electronic voice startling him after the silence around them. His eyes glance around his HUD, the screen showing a dumb picture of Wooyoung he knows he didn't install. he sighs to himself before accepting the call.

"_ what?" _

_ "This place gives me the creeps man… " _

comes Wooyoung's voice, slightly echoey due to the Tanks helmet acoustics.

Despite not looking in Wooyoung's direction or even caring to, Mingi glares.

"_ You called me into a private call just for that? For stars sake, we're on a job Wooyoung, take it seriously! _"

The Tank huffs

"_ Hey! I am taking it seriously, and this place seriously gives me the creeps! Do you want me to shut off comms and just say it so that the slave can hear me insult his planet?!" _

Mingi groans "_ Wooyoung, even complaining about it is unprofessional. Can't you just hold your comments until we get back…" _ the human suddenly stops talking, and almost stops walking too for a moment, before speaking again with a more confused tone rather than annoyed. " _ wait...did you just call San a-" _Mingi hears the call line click as it suddenly hangs up, and it's then that the man realizes that the crew has arrived at the Audience Hall.

The first thing Mingi sees is just how large the room is, just like everything in the Castle so far. Four thick pillars sit evenly around the center of the room, holding up the high ceilings. there's another gleaming chandelier, and around it on the curved ceiling walls is a massive mural. He can't see much of the painting at his angle, but it peaks his interest enough.

Everything, like the rest of the palace, is pure white and gold, with bits of accenting blues and purples occasionally. At the very back and center of the Hall, sits a man on a large throne.

Mingi thinks back to the portrait in the room that they'd met San, to the man on that throne compared to the man on this one.

This man is the same, tall and broad, but his face is blocked by a full cowl. He's in white, gems and thin chains decorate the front face plate of the hood and drip down onto his shoulders and chest in ornate details. thin ropes of silver strings create designs in his cloak, the cloak that flares around the ground as he sits on that chair.

His cloak is clasped together at the center of his chest, the pointed star is present there.

Two men stand beside him, on either side.

To his left is what Mingi can only assume is the Dust Eaters Commander, his covered face, distorted body, and dark armor giving him away immediately. The Sithus looks like the rest, although his mask has crowning points jutting from the sides, the twisted metal looks jagged and sharp as it bends to reach a point. His posture is straight, four arms crossed instead of holding a gun.

Mingi shifts his gaze to the other figure.

This man looks familiar, and he thinks it's one of the children from the painting. He's tall, a little taller than himself, and dressed in a similar outfit to the King, minus the mask and cloak. He's quite handsome, with dark black hair shaved short at the sides and back, he's broad in the shoulders and fills out his suit nicely. Mingi is only slightly jealous of these two men's physiques.

San stops a few feet away from the short platform the men are on, he bows deeply to the two Royals. Mingi and Hongjoong copy his movement with their own awkward versions, their weapons and armors making small noises at the movements. The man on the throne waves his hand, and San steps aside with his head low.

Then comes a booming voice, it's low and raspy like the owner's throat has been raw for a few days. the group all repress a flinch at it's suddenness.

" Greetings, pirates. You've a few hours late, I hope this isn't a normal occurrence. "

Mingi watches as the masked man's head tilts as he speaks, gems catching the light and radiating rainbows of color. Beside him he sees Hongjoong nods.

" _ I apologise Sir, we had a problem occur with our ship as we reached the edge of Sector 2B-Theta so we got put a bit behind schedule. " _Hongjoongs voice is muffled by his helm, an almost robotic version slipping through.

"I see…" the voice pauses, trailing off a bit before he suddenly stands up and makes an open gesture with his glove covered hands "Welcome to Valkar, I am King Jeong. This is my eldest son and heir, Gunho"

the man beside him bows a little, face blank as he watches their guests. His voice is low and monotone as he speaks in the sharp Valkarie language, something that none of their translators pick up enough.

"**si ti eveileb ton od I revewoh ,erusaelp a s'ti taht yas dluow I"**

Despite the pirates obviously confused faces the King says nothing, nor does he translate, and instead turns towards the silent presence of San.

"**tneserp ton ohnuy si yhw ,nas**"

San keeps his head down as his voice rings out, sounding less warm in his native language.

"**sgniraeh s'yadot rof tneserp eb ton lliw eh taht em demrofni sah ohnuy ecnirP ,drol'm esigolopa I **"

A gruff sigh

".**llet yarp ,taht si yhw dna**"

"**nosaer evig ton did ohnuy ecnirp .drol'm ,erusnu ma I-I**"

"**yletaidemmi mih llac esaelp ,llew yrev**."

The group watch awkwardly as the two men speak back and forth, out of the loop but grasping onto how tense San is as the King stops speaking. However something happens that makes the pirate crew take shaky breaths.

Sans eyes, those slightly creepy hazy blue eyes, shift and glow. The tiny veins around his temples and eyes light up, and in that moment, Mingi realizes that he's seen something like that before, it's familiar somehow. But Sans eyes only glow for a moment, before they fade and he tilts his head back down like nothing happened. The crew can't stop staring at him.

it shouldn't shock them, plenty of aliens have glowing bodies or oddly colored skins. But there was something odd about it, it gave off an energy that didn't feel normal or natural. Mingi itched to connect his comms to Wooyoung or Hongjoong, maybe even Jongho, just to see if they felt the same unease as he did.

The King speaks again, attention faced towards the still stunned group.

"My second son shall be arriving soon, please forgive his absence."

Hongjoong jerks his head in a startled nod, his gun clicking as his forearms metal guard hits the barrel from his movements.

Thankfully it isn't a long wait, but still a painfully awkward and silent one. The King does not speak anymore, only tilting his head occasionally to _ look _ at each pirate individually. Mingi at least thinks he's looking, that mask doesn't exactly allow for emotions to show very well. The crew all shift their weight a bit as a new figure emerges from behind the Throne.

They are built similar to Mingi, taller by maybe a centimeter but not as broad, and walk with elegance. the Valkaries obsession with white is not absent on them, with a smooth white coat over that reaches down to his knees, underneath is a mostly covered white button up shirt, white gloves and light grey pants. His coat is trimmed with gold and silver designs, it's similar to the other two Royals, only his doesn't have the pointed star anywhere on it.

Mingi trails his eyes up to the man's face, the half that is visible at least. He's wearing a black mask over his mouth and nose, leaving his eyes visible and expressing exhaustion even at first glance. There are small chains decorating it in criss-cross designs, and tiny studs were embedded into the leathery material like they were holding it in place. It's hauntingly beautiful, but the light blue irritated bruises around the edges prove that it's painful to be worn.

King Jeongs voice speaks again as the newest addition settles to stand beside the crowned prince. His tone is dull, monotone.

"This is my youngest son, Yunho. Don't mind him, he doesn't speak much. "

As Mingi makes eye contact with Yunho he feels uneasy again, something in his chest that doesn't want to be here or around these aliens. Something is telling him that the prince is feeling the same, he can see the smallest shift in his weight, can almost hear a whisper in his head as they stare at each other. The other makes a miniscule nod, but Mingi sees clear as day.

Suddenly he realizes that Prince Yunho has a muzzle on him, the King put a fucking muzzle on his son.

Mingi thinks back to San, and his glowing eyes. He thinks back to Yeosang, who's sitting with Seonghwa back on the ATEEZ, and his glare and blue veins. Kings Jeong's mask, and the alliance with The Dust Eaters. Yunho's sad eyes.

The pirate doesn't hear the rest of the conversation, distantly he can hear his captain's voice replying to the King's rumbles, but he doesn't process anything else other than the fact that he wants to leave as soon as possible. He wants to get away from Jeong, away from the Sithus watching them, away from Prince Yunho and San, away from Valkar and back to his bed.

He doesn't take his eyes off of the muffled Valkarie, he can't look away from the puppy like eyes and white clothes. He keeps eye contact until he feels one of the Tank's tap his shoulder, their gloved hands hitting against his light armor with an audible click that pulls him away and back into reality.

a reality where Hongjoong is bowing to the King and San is walking them back towards the exit.

He shakes his head to clear the sudden haze that had taken over his mind in that short time, what was the contract?

Even as they board their ship, with the addition of San apparently (he missed that too before Wooyoung had all but pushed the human into the wall to get to the Valkarie once they had boarded), Mingi feels weird. His skin itches, like it's crawling. He feels like someone is in his head, listening to his thoughts and picking at his brain.

He can't get those eyes out of his head either.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, all of the boys have been introduced!
> 
> I've also added Gunho (Yunhos real younger brother) into the story, but it's more just using his name. Gunho in this story is older than Yunho and a darker character. If you don't like that I'm sorry, I didn't know any other idols to add in replacement so oof...
> 
> hope you enjoy!


	8. Chapter 7

It takes ten minutes after the returning group has boarded the ship for all hell to break loose. 

  
  


"So, San is going with us?"

"Yes. He requested to assist us instead of the King sending a D.E." 

"But why do we need anyone to come with us? We're skilled pirates, we don't need a babysitter!" a pause "...no offense San."

"None taken?"

Hongjoong lets out an exhausted sigh from behind his mask. "Min-...WIN..." he starts. "The King said he wanted someone to confirm that the job was completed. This isn't something we've not dealt with before, why are you making such a fuss about it?"

Mingi stomps his foot down.

"I'm not being fussy! I'm just saying that I feel uncomfortable having San with us… again no offense." 

"um, offense taken?"

The Valkarie frowns, bringing his shoulders up to his ears and pouts, the chains on his clothes jingling as he moves. He goes ignored by the two arguing Mercs. 

"Do not be rude! He's only doing his job, just like what we're trying to do!" Hongjoong growls, his patience wearing thin every time his crewmate speaks "Can you just act professional for two seconds?! You're acting like Wooyoung!" 

Wooyoung squawks in protest, heavy armor clad arms flailing around as his voice is muffled by his helmet.

"Why am I getting attacked now?!" 

"Your name is Wooyoung? That's a nice name." 

The crew freeze, the innocent statement and voice coming from their guest (Mingi would not call him a guest, he is an intruder at the moment). San, who doesn't realize the accidental fuck up that the crews Captain had just let out, is simply smiling very softly at the forementioned Tank. 

Mingi smacks Hongjoong in the back of the head silently.

With their code names blown the crew all collectively sigh and slump their shoulders, but as Hongjoong goes to speak and explain San beats him to it. The Valkarie looking around the group with a tiny, almost comforting, smile. 

"Don't worry! I'm not going to report your identities to my King, I'm only here to provide proof of the targets assassination. " The group all relax for a second at the man's words, although one in particular shivers and responds not so politely. 

"See, a babysitter." 

"Mingi!" 

"Stop shouting out our names Hongjoong!"

"What?! Look what you just did Seonghwa, now he knows my name too!" 

"Everyone shut up and stop saying names!" 

"You shut up!

"By the stars I hate all of you!"

"Nobody cares Wooyoung!" 

"Stop saying my name!" 

"H-Hello _ -zzzt- _ my n-n-name is Jong-h-ho!" 

"No! Don't just throw your name around Jongho!" 

"But you _ -zzzt- _ have s-said ever-y-yt-twos name min-u-us mine and _ -zzst- _ Y-Yeosangs!" 

"Wait!"

"Fuck!" 

San smiles innocently 

"The name Yeosang is nice-" 

"San, shut up!" 

"Don't tell him to shut up, he didn't do anything!" 

"Wooyoung, I swear to the stars-" Mingi bristles

"You wanna go dripplestalk?" 

"What in the ever loving fuck is a dripplestalk?!"

"It's you, you grapplesnuff!" 

"what the fuck is a grapplesnuff?!" 

"**EVERYBODY SHUT UP**!" Yeosang, who had been standing off to the side dressed up in his full rangers duster and good, shouts, his normally quiet voice echoing off of the walls and passing his helms barrier to screech into his crewmates ears."Everyone needs to stop fucking yelling! Mingi, sit in your fucking seat and set our coordinates for Ex'0dus, do your job damnit! Hongjoong get into your seat too, why is our leader acting like a child right now?!" 

He turns towards Seonghwa, Jongho, and Wooyoung. 

"Wooyoung I swear if you open your mouth one more time I'm going to kick you into open space! **SIT DOWN**! Seonghwa, you're the eldest! Act like the oldest." Finally he stops at their youngest, his tone dropping significantly "Jongho, please take a seat by the window, watch the clouds or something." 

finally he turns to San, his shoulders tense as he looks at the other Valkarie. 

"San...why don't you hang out with Jongho while we take off."

  
  
  


It's tense as the crew all shift around, all of the men listening to their hacker like a God, and plant themselves in their respective areas. However Yeosang walks up to stand behind Hongjoong and Mingi as they seat themselves. 

Mingi is finally setting their course and pulling their ship into lift off by the time he hears his communicator click to an open feed. The glowing HUD shows that he's only connected to two other people.

"_ Well, that was a disaster." _Comes Yeosangs lisp, his voice much calmer compared to just a few moments ago. 

Mingi hears a sigh and sees Hongjoong slump out of the corner of his eye.

"_Yeah, it was."_ _He starts "I guess there isn't a point in using code names around him anymore, might as well take our armor off and hand him Yeosang on a plate garnished with thyme…"_

Yeosang smacks his Captain's arm, tone stuff and tense as he shuts his friend down. 

"_ He hasn't seen any of our faces yet, calm down. " _

Hongjoong shrugs, before humming to himself before speaking again. 

_ "So, Yeosang. What's the plan for now? We didn't factor in having a... guest...on the job." _

Mingi pops in first, his eyes not leaving his controls even as he shifts the ship into autopilot. His mood is foul now that the odd obsessed haze from earlier has faded from his mind.

"_ We all stay covered and get the job done as soon as possible. I want to go home. " _

_ "Bless The Guardian, what crawled into your wires and died?" _Yeosang snaps at him. 

Hongjoong butts in, after the Valkarie spits out his two cents. His tone however is much softer. 

"_ Yeah, ever since the meeting you've been acting weird. " _

The pilot huffs, almost tempted to mute his comms to avoid talking to the others more. But he can't deny that they're right about him. 

Mingi knew his instincts were onto something the whole time that the crew were walking around the castle. The entire area gave him such a cold feeling, pure unease and unfiltered tension that only left once he boarded the ship again. He feels himself thinking back to the younger royal, Prince Yunho. Those eyes, that mask, the sadness that radiated off of the other man like a furnace. 

Why can't he stop thinking about him? Even now, with the planet no longer visible as they trek through open space, he can't unsee those blue eyes. The more and more he thinks however the more dread fills his chest.

Those eyes are so familiar and drawing because they remind him of Hwanwoongs dying ones. Eyes that held too much pain and loss to keep going.

But there were drastic differences between Prince Yunho and Hwanwoong, one had been dead for six years now and the other was just a royal that made him feel uncomfortable. 

Maybe he shouldn't think that way, after all he didn't know Yunho or how he was treated or acted. Hell the man couldn't even speak apparently, not with that hellish mask covering the lower half of his face. 

Hwanwoong took his-

"Mingi_ !" _

Hongjoongs voice startled the frozen man, and Mingi jerked his head up towards his captain with wide eyes. The other human was turned to face the pilot, his helm was still up but Mingi could feel the concern and unease rolling off of the older in waves as he reached out a hand in his direction. Mingi blinks and shakes his head.

"_ Sorry...what's up?" _He mumbles, pushing away his thoughts to the back of his mind.

"_ You went stiff on us and wouldn't respond to Me. Are you feeling okay?" _ Hongjoongs replies, his voice wavering a bit at his friend's ruffled state. 

Mingi pauses for a moment before nodding his head, he rolls his shoulders back in an awkward movement that makes his armor clank against the back of his chair. He speaks again, this time directing his question towards Yeosang. 

"_ Yeosang, what do you know about the royal family?" _

The Valkarie goes stiff, and Mingi knows he's about to have his question deflected. And he's correct, because in proper Yeosang style the man flicks away Mingis curiosity like a bug. 

"_ Nothing really, like I told you all when we landed, I haven't been to Valkar in years. Everything's changed from what I remember. " _

"_ But you knew about San." _

_ "I didn't know San was still there, I just hoped he would have been." _

Mingi hums, and he can see Hongjoong tilting his head to face the two. Their Captain's voice pops in after he shifts. 

"_ No...you said that San was in the Castle, you knew he was there. Plus you even said that San would find us instead of us having to look for him…" _ a pause " _ Yeosang, I've never pushed you to talk about your past, hell I've never pushed any of you about it, but how do you know San anyways? Just who were you…" _

The pilot can hear the desperation in Hongjoongs voice, their leader is just as confused and concerned as he was about the situation. And what he had said about pushing for their lives before piracy was true, never once had he asked or demanded that his crew talk about who they once were. Wooyoung and Yeosang hadn't spoken a word of their homes, Seonghwa was vague, Jongho had no backstory and Hongjoong himself was very private about his time on Earth. Even Mingi had his secrets, even if his story was the easiest to find out and understand among the group, but Hongjoong never asked, nobody ever asked. 

Mingi was always curious, just who his friends of five years were , sometimes. He wanted to know but at the same time he understood not wanting to talk about himself to others or explain how the choices he'd made fucked him over in the end. Yeosang had a bounty on his head while Mingi had a back injury and a medical discharge. Wooyoung was all but a ghost and Mingi still called him his best friend. 

And while the human understood Yeosangs unease to talk about his life before, the current situation was too heavy. 

Mingi thinks back to what the merchant Kyungsoo had said to him back on Voldar. How Yeosang had dark secrets, ones that could harm the crew. He also thinks about San and his glowing eyes, about a King that didn't show his face, the alliance with the Sithus, and finally he thinks of that mask the prince wore. 

Just who were the Valkarie people.

Again Mingi taken out of his trance like thoughts by a voice in his ear, Yeosangs to be precise. 

"_ It's...It's hard to explain okay? It's something I can't just tell you guys…" _ He pauses for a moment, tone strained as he continues " _ Listen, I'll make you a deal okay? We finish the job as quickly as possible and once we get back to Solaris I'll tell you guys everything, sound good?" _

Mingi wants to argue, to finally get answers, but before he can even open his mouth to reply Hongjoong is already sighing into the mic like a stressed mother. 

"_ Fine, deal." _

There's another moment of silence before their Captain is speaking again, this time directed at Mingi. 

"_ ETA?" _

mingi glances down at his screens, locating the small and slowly decreasing number displayed in bright white letters. He groans internally. 

"_ 27 hours" _

  
  


"_ Well fuck...buckle up kiddos, it's gonna be a long flight." _

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the filler chapter, I've been very busy and just haven't had much time to write! 
> 
> Long chapters are hard to write because I don't have my laptop at the moment, since I lent it to my friend for work but he's still using it even though he's was supposed to give it back weeks ago oof. I'm having to write on my phone, which is starting to hurt my thumbs aaaa 
> 
> Anyways, next chapter will actually progress the story line, plus give us some more and some new characters! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He hadn't been back in years, he wondered how much it had changed in the past few years

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A super short and weird chapter!   
Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been focusing on Lavender Blood and Coming Home so I haven't been writing a lot for Space Oddity! 
> 
> I'll try to finish the next chapter much sooner!  
If you notice any mistakes please tell me~

_ "Mommy, Mommy!"  _

_ A small child, around the age of seven, runs into the tiny but quaint kitchen at full speed. He's turning into long gangly limbs and stumbling feet as he rushes into the room with a big smile on his still chubby face and a stuffed monkey in a spacesuit tucked under his arm.  _

_ A young woman, with short black hair and an apron on, turns to face the approaching child with a small smile on her red tinted lips.  _

_ "What is it, my little Cadet?" _

_ The small boy gasps and grabs the denim fabric that covers the woman's leg in desperation as he whines.  _

_ "Mommy! Captain Jangles is about to start, you're gonna miss it!" _

_ The mother gasps in faux surprise, she smacks the side of her cheek as she makes an over the top shocked face. _

_ "Oh no, we can't miss Jangles!"  _

_ The boy nods violently and tugs at her pants again as he tries to pull his mother towards the living room with as much vigor as a seven year old can manage. She tries not to laugh out loud, and instead reaches over the heated stove to turn the dials off as she lets herself be pulled away from making their dinner.  _

_ Their house is small, but it's enough for the two. The living room is decently spacious, with a small two seated couch in the center of it that the little boy has already thrown himself on once they enter the room fully. The small TV in front of the couch is old but plays the colorful cartoon just fine. The woman sits down beside her son, ruffling his hair and turns to face the screen.  _

_ She'll never understand his obsession with Jangles the Moon Monkey, in fact she found the cartoon to look creepy. It was those eyes, they stated into your soul.  _

_ Her son sings along to the intro song, bopping his body as he spins his stuffed toy around to mimick dancing. She smiles softly again, watching her son.  _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Mingi decides that he wishes he was back on Solaris for the thousandth time. That's not even a new revelation for him these days, his crew always tend to make him want to sleep his life away. 

He loves his crew, they're his family through and through but being woken up by his friend's yeppy screeches is not exactly how he'd like to start his work day. 

The red head grunts as he straightens up out of his slumped position in his chair, his nap having long been disturbed by Wooyoungs loud antics mixed with the intrigued sounds San kept murmuring. 

Mingi didn't really know how to feel about San. 

The man was nice, if a bit weird at times. The short 20 something hours they'd spent around one another had taught Mingi that San knew barely anything outside of his planet. 

San was very curious and walked around in an almost constant state of awe as he was tugged around their ship. Mingi saw the clear amazement the Valkarie held on his face as Wooyoung, and sometimes Jongho, would explain the workings of something on their ship or describe a planet or ship-homestead they'd been to. 

While Mingi feels almost uncomfortable around the man, he's sympathetic to being so curious and ignorant. Besides, he keeps Wooyoung busy and off of Mingi's back. 

  
  


He sighs, glancing down at their radar to see that they're only an hour away from Ex'0dus. Thankfully. 

Mingi had managed to sleep a good three hours, though his body felt too tense after being molded into his chair for that long. He missed his bed. 

The pilot turned to see his Captain's body curled up in his own chair, he cringes. Hongjoongs neck his bent down at an awkward angle that will surely leave a horrible cramp, his left boot is falling off due to the untied laced that barely keep them on his feet to begin with, his helmet are both still on - and Mingi hopes his Capitan hasn't suffocated in his sleep. 

He stands up from his chair, his back popping violently enough that he winces and feels the breath get knocked out of him for a second before he forces his back straight and into submission, and shuffles over to his friend. Mingi glances around the deck. 

Wooyoung and San were currently sitting on one of the benches under one of the windows, the former talking in a not so indoor voice while the latter is staring out of the glass, eyes wide and occasionally nodding to the other to show his acknowledgement. 

Yeosang wasn't around, but he had ditched the crew not long after lift off, left to hunker back in either his room or down in the engine core. Jongho was most likely with him, they tended to stick together due to both Yeosangs interest in Jonghos mechanics as well as the synths own interest in learning more about the ships workings. 

Seonghwa was probably in the med bay, and Mingi would unshamefully bet that the older man was cleaning and reorganizing. To each his own they say. 

He huffs at the crews disorganization, even if this was normal behavior. 

Mingi shakes Hongjoongs shoulder as well as directing a call to his Captain's comm. The older man shifts and groans into the mic. 

" _ What Mingi? Let me sleep…"  _

The pilot rolls his eyes even if nobody can see, he steps back to plop himself right back into his chair. 

" _ Time to wake up Capitan, 54 minutes until we reach Ex'0dus. _

Hongjoong huffs into his mic, the sound making Mingi cringe at its volume, before sitting up properly and adjusting his clothes and boot. He yawns, stretching out after the few hours of sleep he'd gotten.

Mingi watches the upcoming planet system with a sad sense of nostalgia.

Ex'0dus was a planet with two moons far from the IGA rule district, it was a small planet that Mingi had visited a few times in his time in space. Although now a lot of those memories were bittersweet at best now, he still looked at the destination with a small sad smile. 

After Hongjoong had repeated everything he'd missed during their meeting with King Jeong, Mingi had felt a bit curious as to why exactly someone would run away to hide on the exoplanet. 

Ex'0dus wasn't a bad place to live, but it was harsh. Years and years of a rough civil war between the northern and southern hemispheres over resources and cultural views left the planet mostly destroyed and abandoned. However they'd been in a cold war for the past 9 years as far as Mingi knew. 

He hadn't been back in years, he wondered how much it had changed in the past few years. 

He watches the growing planet coming into view, it's rocky brown color and large oceans looking like a painting of mixed colors. 

  
  


_ 24 minutes _ .

  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. Chapter 10

Unlike before back on Valkar, both Seonghwa and Yeosang joined the group. Making the crew full–plus their guest San. They all lock up the ship and step outside onto the rocky ground just outside of the city, Guardian City. 

The city sat on the direct border of the national divide, a complete neutral ground even back during the heated parts of the fighting. Mingi himself had only ever been to the city, never further north nor further south, only within the loosely gated city limits. 

He glanced around, it was drier than the last time he visited. Hotter too. The ground was starting to crack under their boots, thirsty from a lack of rain. Mingi shifts uncomfortably in his armor and clothes. 

Someone steps beside him, he hears his communicator click before a voice filters in. 

"So, this is the big bad Ex'0dus. Why do I feel so underwhelmed?" Wooyoung asks, disappointment in his tone. 

Mingi grunts and he steps to follow Hongjoong who was starting to walk towards the city. 

"Well, years of war tend to destroy a planet, Wooyoung." 

Wooyoung hums, walking beside him in as synced steps as he can with the uncomfortable strides his armor makes him take. 

Mingi was always silently sympathetic towards Tanks, the armor is not very comfortable, and it retains the outside temperatures. Wooyoung is probably already burning up despite being outside for only a minute now. Plus they were heavy, the suits were almost solid metal and if you lost power you wouldn't be able to move at all. 

Even someone like Jongho, an Android, could struggle with the weight of a dead power armor suit.

The two don't get to continue their conversation as Hongjoong joins in their communicator link, voice louder than normal probably so that San could hear him too without having to take off his helm.   
"Alrighty boys, last run down of the plan. Gather around."

The group complies, hastily forming a semicircle in front of their Captain, with San standing next to Hongjoong. Thankfully he'd been smart enough to bring armor, which meant that his white clothes were switched out in favor of dark gray and black clothes with leather armor strapped around him. And Mingi will admit that San looked much more approachable in those clothes, he looked more like he belonged with them.

Hongjoong shifts his stance, shotgun resting in his hands.   
"Okay, this should be as quiet as we can. Our target is located in the The Tower, he's supposed to be high threat. We've got a description of white hair, around five foot nine, average build, and goes by the name Baekhyun."

Mingi sees someone shift, but doesn't question it.

"Crime is theft from a royal and set for retrieval to return to Valkar, unharmed. I repeat, unharmed." Their Captain continues.The group all make sounds and movements of acknowledgement.

Hongjoong nods in acceptance, turning to talk to San for a moment.   
"I want you to stay behind us with Jongho, can't have you getting hurt either."

Mingi watches as San tilts his head for a brief moment before nodding his head, he steps away and stands beside Jongho, and Mingi hears him greet the tank is a light voice.

He turns back to Hongjoong.   
"So are we just dropping our code name?"

The shorter grunts, shaking his head, and if Mingi could see his face he knows he'd look exhausted.   
"Might as well after what happened at take off, doesn't matter anyways...I was just wanting to sound professional in front of our employer. "

The pilot laughs, landing a hand down to pat his friends shoulder sympathetically.   
"It's okay Joong, you're doing fine without looking _professional_."

Hongjoong nods, most likely holding in a laugh, before he walks away towards the tear in the fencing where the rest have started to head. Mingi follows after, unhooking the assault rifle he chose to use from the holder on his back and switching it off of safety. Gotta look intimidating, they're pirates after all.

The group move passed the open fence, Hongjoong leading the pack with Wooyoung and Ming behind him, Yeosang and Seonghwa behind them, and finally San and Jongho at the rear. It wasn't their usual formation, but they had to adjust for San.

The city is a good two miles from the outlining fence, filled with farmland and empty houses. The walk is slow, a mix between the uneven ground and the two tanks speed limits make for a boring trek of silence and muffled foot falls.

Mingi glances around the area, he has an odd sense of unease that he doesn't normally have when on jobs. It's something he'd learned while in the academy, the way to disconnect his emotions to the mission at hand.

The Solar Core, while not inherently evil, were not very good. The amount of mission the his old crew had been sent on that required them to either intimidate small planet leaders to join the IGA were uncountable, and because of the brainwashing the soldiers underwent most never realized just what they were doing. Maybe that's why he didn't feel guilty leaving after everything that happened, he didn't feel like he'd failed his species like most other did. Mingi felt like he failed as a human who was taught to befriend the far away terrestrials. He failed his mother because of the Solar Core.

But with that came training came the switch, the ability to shut down and focus on his the goal assigned to him. However lately he couldn't do that anymore, he wants to say it started on Voldar but he knows it's been a while now.

It's not that he doesn't love his job, with all it's pros and cons equally, but maybe it's something telling him that something is coming. But maybe it's nothing, maybe he's just getting tired of the space life already.

"Do you guys hear that?"

Wooyoung pulls Mingi from his thoughts by calling out through the comms link, the group all pause their movements.   
Hongjoong turns around, head moving around to look at the area around them.   
"Hear what?"

Wooyoung shifts his weight, his suit thumping on the ground as he pulls his gun closer to himself. Mingi frowns at the lack of a response.   
"I don't hear anything..."

"Its a humming noise. How does nobody hear it?!" The D'Morian blurts out, confusion lacing his words.

"I hear it too." Yeosang offers, head twisting around to try and pin point the apparent noise.

Mingi glances around.   
"Anyone else? It's all empty cactus fields guys..."

Hongjoong speaks up, drawing everyone attention.   
"I hear it now, it sounds like a motor..."

"A car maybe?" Seonghwa offers while he switches his laser rifle on, the gun making a charging noise as it's barrel lights up with charge.

Mingi shakes his head, raising his own weapon.   
"The Guardians are the only ones who can own vehicles on Ex'0dus..."

"Guardians, what's that?" Jongho asks, voice muffled as he moves around to scan the area behind them.

"The Guardians are the ones who quote unquote ended the war, they're the ones who brought the north and south together in a standstill." Mingi starts to explain, the nerves from before spiking. " They handle any and all disputes now, they're like the new government except they're actively going out and helping the people."

"So they're like the police?" Seonghwa asks

"Sort of, they're literally the planet...or more like the decedent's of the original 12? It's hard to explain but they're more than just police, they're meant to protect the planet and it's people..." Mingi continues, trying to remember as much as he can about the group.

"What about the war? Did they just disagree or something?" Hongjoong asks now, surprisingly not knowing about the planets history.

Mingi shakes his head, trying to focus on the humming.   
"No, no, no, there hasn't been any Guardians in the last 100 years, so the planet just kind of fell apart without them...a few years ago a new set emerged and stopped the fighting."

"Do they know we're here?" Wooyoung askas next, turning to Mingi.

The other shrugs, not knowing.   
"Maybe? All I know is that they're connected to -"

"There's a truck coming." San blurts out.

The group turn to San and follow his gaze to the left side of the group, where sure enough a black truck is speeding towards them with a dust cloud following behind.

From were Mingi is standing he can tell it's a war vehicle, the height and body armor are enough to give it away even without the growing rumble of it's engine. His helms screen zooms in, and Mingi can feel his body tense.

There's three guys that he can see, two in the cab and one in the back or on top he can't tell, but what he can see is the power armor the one outside is in. Black as a void and reminding him a bit of the X-01 sets that the Solar Core used for it's S ranked assignments.

Mingi cusses under his breath, but they all still hear it.

"Mingi, any idea who that is? You're the only one who seems to know about this planet." Hongjoong huffs, stepping closer to the pilot in question as the rest set themselves into defensive stances.

The pilot shakes his head, watching the truck get closer and closer until it's only a few yards away.   
_"I have no idea, Captain." _

The group tense as the truck pulls to a stop just a few feet away. Giving them all a better look at what they're up against.

Mingi turned out to be correct about the man in the back, the identifiable X-01 suit is scratched up but still sturdy after seeing war. He holds a mounted gun, the barrel points at the group ready to fire at the twitch of a finger. The man's helmets insect shaped eyes stare at them, glowing a deep red to accent the tiny red details of his armor, like the small fire bird on the chest.

The two men inside of the truck get out, both tall and dressed in black and grey ranger outfits, one covered with a hood and cap while the other only had a helm to cover his face. The taller of the two had an hour glass on the back of his cape while the other had a set of weird swirling lines on his chest. They both carried heavy guns, though the one with the cape had a sword on his back as well.

Mingi watches intently, nerves burning.

The man with the swirling lines speaks up, voice clear despite his mask.   
"What is a crew of pirates doing sneaking into the city? State your business, now. "

There's brief pause before Hongjoong speaks up.  
"We've been sent for a job."

Mingi winces at his Captains bluntness and the three men seem effected, the one in the back gets down from the truck. The vehicle moves as he shifts his weight around to jump down, hitting the ground with a loud thud that makes the ground shake a bit. The pilot gulps, nerves flaring even worse as the tank is now getting involved.

The man walks up to the group, heavy steps sending them all into panic with each one. He stops right in front of Mingi and Hongjoong. The man speaks, voice deep and gravely as he stares down at the two behind those red lenses, and while Mingi knows their faces are hidden he feels exposed.   
"Target name?"

"Classified."

The man laughs, the sound low and almost menacing.   
"You have thirty seconds to give me a Target name or you're going to be burnt to a crisp."

There's a nother pause before Hongjoong sighs, a resigned tone to his voice.   
"Target name, Baekhyun."

Mingi watches the mean tense up, the man with the sword speaking next.  
"Employer?"

"...Classified."

The tank grunts, and as Mingi looks as his hands he notices the metal turning red. He worries a fight is about to break out due to his Captains _professionalism_.   
"You don't learn do you! Employer, now!"

Mingi gulps, interrupting the two.   
"King Jeong of planet Valkar, sector 12-Theta."

The men turn to face him now, and he can feel Hongjoong staring into the side of his head for his _outburst_. But Mingi didn't want a confrontation, no more than what they were assigned to, and if that meant speaking over his Captain then so be it.

The man straightens up, his armor clanking a bit as he does and speaks, but instead to his comrades.   
"Call Kai, we're taking them in."

"Are you sure that's the best idea, Phoenix? We should just kill them now." The one with the swirls questions while the other is walking back to the truck, presumably to use some type of communicator.

The tank shakes his head, but starts walking backwards until his back hits the trucks side. Mingi watches as he reaches into the bed of the truck and pulls out a large gun that would make anyone slightly nervous.   
"No, they're coming with us to The Tower."

Mingi hears someone speak into their comms link quietly, he can't tell who in the moment however.   
"What do we do...?"

The pilot hears Hongjoong take a breath to reply.   
"Do as they say. And Mingi? We're going to have a talk if we make it out of this alive. "

The men in front of them all shift around before suddenly there's a loud _pop_ and a man appears off to the side.

He's dressed the same as the other two, except he has only a mask covering his mouth instead of a helmet. He's wearing similar black and grey clothes, except he's got a bright yellow triangle with something inside of it on his right thigh, sewed into his pants. His also armed with a high powered assault rifle, much like Mingi's own.

"The fuck?" Wooyoung cusses under his breath. Mingi ignores him and watches the men.

The man who just appeared walks over to his comrades, voice muffled by his mask.  
"You sure about this Phoenix? Its smarter to just kill them."

The one with the swirls jolts, waving his gun around like a made man.   
"That's literally what I said to him!"

"Shut up, the both of you." The tank grunts out while he's walking around to the right side of the group of the group. "Kai, take the left side. Zee, I want you to follow behind in the technical and Twister you need to lock in on the gun."

Mingi watches as the group all shift to their positions, while the tank, Phoenix, stars instructing the pirates too.   
"We're going to walk you boys right up to The Tower. You fucking think about stepping out of your space my boy on the tech' is gonna blow you to the moons."

Mingi sighs as they start walking towards the City again. _He's too tired for this. _


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingi glances at Baekhyun, who busy covering his mouth to hide his laugh. Nobody says anything until he stops his giggling and speaks.
> 
> "I told you he'd send someone after me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a fast update for you all!  
I'm already working on the next chapter, so don't worry another update will be out before the end of the month! Also:
> 
> ATINY ARE YOU EXCITED FOR THE COMEBACK??  
The theories are going crazy!!
> 
> Support the boys the best you can once the album drops! Don't forget to vote for music shows and polls and stream of you can for the boys, let's show them that Atiny don't dream small!!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

Guardian City was large, filled with half destroyed buildings but also packed streets where civilians lived their lives. A borderline dystopian city with the way it's people fluttered around, some dressed in rags while others cloaked themselves in dark robes like monks.

The one thing that joined them all together was watching a group of Guardians escort a crew of pirates towards the tallest building in the city.

Mingi doesn't know much about what The Tower is, however it's slowly understood that it's just used as a base for the Guardians to work and live in. At least that's what it seems like at this point.

With that understanding comes the realization that their Target is most definitely a Guardian, if not he's someone of high rank here on Ex'0dus. He frowns at the thought. Had King Jeong really sent them to arrest a Guardian, because he had to have known right?

Anyone who knew about Ex'0dus knew about the legends, the powerful beings who watched over the planet. Even if there hadn't been any new guardians in a while, he must've known about the new group that had emerged in just the past few years.

There's no other explanation, but the new question was why. Why had they been sent on what could basically be called a suicide mission.

He glances around the group to take him mind off of his thoughts.

The walk into the city had been awkward to say the least, with Mingi and the others not knowing if they could talk plus the radio silence from the Guardians. He gives them props for intimidation, he'd felt that gun train onto him every once in a while.

He thinks the Guardians were talking to each other though, through their communicators. The one on his left constantly nodded his head or shrugged like he was speaking to someone and every once in a while the one called _Phoenix_ would shake his head like he was disappointed in something.

Mingi admits that he can't blame the Guardians for being slightly rude, he understands that they've technically invaded their planet with plans to kill one of their people. He can't find it in himself to be upset, nervous yes but not upset.

He can't say the same for Hongjoong.

His Captain's been grumbling under his breath ever since they'd started their walk, the pilot knows that the other has long forgotten to disconnect his communicator link, either that or he wants them all to hear his whining. Mingi's not sure about that last part.

He only feels slightly bad, at accidentally starting a war between the two. He loves his leader, would die for the man in a heartbeat, however he knows that the man can be impulsive. He's stubborn and cautious most of the time, however at the moment he's tired and distracted. This leads to his disoriented team leadership, Mingi didn't mean to offend him earlier but he feared further escalation.

He has respect for the Guardians, he knew the lore about the originals. They weren't moral beings in the same way the crew of the ATEEZ was, the new batch had been born with old blood.

Hongjoong however knew nothing about them or the planet, which wasn't a big surprise seeing as none of them did.

Ex'0dus wasn't a very well known place, it wasn't IGA aligned, which meant many of its citizens didn't learn about the planet in schools. It was far enough from any other systems or inhabited planets that it made it hard to find unless you knew where to look or it's exact coordinates.

In fact the only reason Mingi knew anything about it was because of a mission he was sent on back when he was fresh out of the academy, it had been a short escort job for a business man that he couldn't remember the name of now.

Ravn had told him a lot about the planet, after all it was his home planet to begin with.

He grunted as he stumbled, his foot slipping off of the uneven asphalt of the city roads. The Guardian beside him looked at him.   
"You good?"

Mingi turned, glad his face was covered as he felt his face heat up a bit in embarrassment. He nodded his head, glad that it was enough to allow the man to turn his head back forward.   
He can feel eyes on his back, his team watching him.

He sighs, glancing around at their surroundings.

They're in the middle of the city, walking towards a large building. Although it's dead center, there is not a large population around them. It's almost empty minus a few people who resemble guards walking around the streets in pairs.

There's tall buildings on either side of the road, apartment or business buildings he can't tell. Eventually the road splits in two and forms a wrapping circle around the tallest building they're headed towards.

This is the Tower, and it's massive and pure tinted windows and twisted metal that wraps around it like vines. It's intimidating, build like a fortress or a villain's hideout.

He's both impressed and nervous at the same time.

As they get to the front the group stop, Phoenix and the Guardian on Mingi's left both stopping as the truck behind them shuts off. The pilot turns to watch as the other two Guardians get out, the one that had been manning the mounted gun jumping down with a heavyweighted thud while he friend gracefully steps out of the driver seat. The two ready their guns and re-aproach the pirates with steady feet.

The two shift around the group to secure their back, not speaking as _Phoenix _leads the group up the short steps of the building and through the door, the Guardians nodding to the two guards manning the doorway with straight backs and guns hot.

The tank Guardian speaks up finally as they all step inside, doors shutting behind them with a low clank. Everyone's attention shifts to him.   
"Disarm yourselves, everything down to helms. Now."

The panic in Mingi flares.   
Disarming meant their identities would be exposed to not only their makeshift captors as well as San. Disarming also meant losing their weapons, becoming defenseless if need be. He took a shaky breath and tried to speak into the link that was now buzzing with his teammates voices.   
"What-"

"Joong?! What do we do?" Comes Seonghwa, a nervous shake to his words.

"Captain..." Wooyoung mumbles, and Mingi can see him gripping his gun tighter.

Mingi gulps, speaking over everyone to grab his friends attention.  
"Hongjoong. What are we doing, we can't just expose ourselves like this..."

There's a silence that worries him into thinking that maybe their connection cut off or a glitch is occuring, however he doesn't get to test it because the Guardian is speaking again.   
"Are you all deaf? Disarm."

"Do it."

Mingi startles at Hongjoongs voice in his ear, sounding beyond exhausted and disheartened. And he knows that the older is thinking, that he's failed his crew by not being able to stand up. But he doesn't blame him, they're outpowered, even if the others don't fully understand that.

He hears the others starting to moves, the sound of guns falling to the ground echoing in the small entryway. He drops his own gun gently, resting it next to his feet before pulling his pistol from his thigh holster, as well as the knife strapped to his right forearm. He pauses as he grabs his face plate, a sense of dread pooling in his stomach as he hears the tiny _hiss_ of the filtered air decompressing from how long he's been wearing it, he drops it next to his weapons.

For a moment he's overwhelmed, his left eye having to adjust to the lighting while his right is already refocusing, attempting to scan his area for detail. That was always a downside to only having on optical implant, the lag and difference between his organic eye and the prosthetic. But he doesn't install another, it makes him still as human as he can be. Besides, his left eyes is perfectly 20/20.

Mingi looks around, feeling the air on his face. It's still warm, but at least it's cooler in the building. It smells like clean marble and hot metal, a weird combination.

He turns to his crew, all of which have already disarmed themselves. San is surprisingly not even looking at them, too busy staring at the tall ceiling that's been painted with a large tree mural.

Mingi makes eye contact with Hongjoong, the other just looks away and down to the ground before his attention is drawn back to the Biggest Guardian.   
"Follow me, stay close and don't stray."

The group walk through another set of doors, entering into a larger open area with platform like elevator in the center. Sadly Mingi doesn't get to look around much as the grew are guided onto the platform and begin to raise up with a loud _hum_.

Again nobody speaks as they move floors, the one that had been on his left, _Ka_i if he remembers, is still nodding his head everyone in awhile. He's awkwardly close to him, shoulder to shoulder. If Mingi were to look at him he'd probably see his reflection in his eyes.

Thankfully the ride is short, ending once the lift stops and the glass doors open back up to show another wide open room, this one however has other people in it.

The Guardians walk the group up to the other four men in the room, two of which are standing over a large table with a hologram map of the continent. They are stopped a few feet away, the four others all straightening up and watching them curiously.

The tallest of them, a man with messy black hair that's hanging in his face and a long black coat with a red dragon symbol on the right sleeve while his other sleeve has been cut off to showcase a black metal arm much like Wooyoungs, watches the group with a glare that makes Mingi shiver.   
The other at the table is shorter compared to his friend, however the dark red hair that's been pushed back and the black clothes make him just as nervous. Like the other Guardians there's a blue teardrop symbol his left breast pocket.

Before Mingi can look at the other two men the tallest is speaking, voice similar to the tanks but accented.   
"What's going on?"

"As we were returning from our mission in Krol we picked up an unauthorized aircraft enter zone 4. We checked it and found this batch sneaking through a whole in the boundary fences near the crop fields." _Phoenix_ speaks, standing straight as his armor allows him.

The man nods, turning towards the group.   
"Who are you?"

A pause

"My name is Desire, Captain of the 1024-KQF better known as the ATEEZ. We're freelance guns and bodies for hire, mercs." Hongjoong answers slowly, back straight and body tense as he tries to make himself bigger.

The shorter man frowns, turning to his friend. "Pirates?" He turns back to the crew with a raised eyebrow. "Why are you here on Ex'0dus?"

Mingi represses a gulp as his Captain responds.   
"We were commissioned by King Jeong Yunseok of Valkar for the arrest of one Baekhyun, we were given a location and lax description."

The men tense turning their heads to one of the men that Mingi couldn't see before turning back to face them. The tallest huffs, before rubbing a hand down his face. The red haired man frowns and sighs.   
"Guardians, disarm. They're of no threat."

The three Guardians begin shifting and uncloaking themselves as the Tank starts arguing.   
"No threat? They're here to take Star!"

The tallest is ready to bite back, face darkening, however his is interrupted by one of the unseen man behind the redhead.   
"Yeol, disarm."

The tank shifts his attention to the man walking up to the redhead and so does Mingi.

As the man steps out he realizes that he's their Target, at least the description matches the best that it's vagueness can. He's the correct height and build and white hair that's laying in his face like it's damp. All he'd need is a name confirmation. He's dressed just like the redhead, except he's got a faded purple and red poncho with a sixteen pointed star on the front sitting on top of his clothes. He's frowning, eyes shifting between the pirates and the tank.   
"What is my crime?"

_Bingo._ So this is Baekhyun, or _Star_ as his teammate addresses him. Mingi blinks, waiting for Hongjoong to speak.   
"Theft from a royal, to be detained unharmed."

There's a silence as the Guardians look at each other, in a silent communication he assumes by their facial expressions. Suddenly there's a snort.

Mingi glances at Baekhyun, who busy covering his mouth to hide his laugh. Nobody says anything until he stops his giggling and speaks.  
"I told you he'd send someone after me."

The red haired man sighs before turning to the pirates with a resigned look on his face.

"Excuse him, but first let me introduce everyone." There's a pause before he continues, standing up to fully face them. "My name is Suho, Guardian of Water. I'm the leader of our set. This is Kris, Guardian of The Dragon. He's my second in command." He points towards the tallest man, who holds his glare, before settling a hand on Baekhyun's shoulder next. "This is Star, Guardian of Light."

Before he can speak again the last man who Mingi hadn't seen yet steps out from behind Kris. He's around the same height as Seonghwa, with a baby face and light brown hair that's partially covered by the hood he wears over his head. He's dressed in the same outfit as Suho, but instead his top is sleeveless and he can a strange set of curved lines as a symbol on the sides of his hood. His eyes are glazed over in an eerie way. He speaks, voice very soft but never looks towards the group properly.   
"My name is Han, Guardian of the Mind"

Suho nods before pointing behind the group to introduce the four other Guardians that had found them properly. The group following his direction.

He points to the man on Mingi's left first, who's taken off his half face mask now to show a handsome face. "That is Kai, Guardian of Travel." Next is the man with the sword, who's helmet is gone also to reveal a youthful looking man with a pretty face, messy green hair, and dark circles under his eyes, he smiles as he's being introduced. "This is Zee, Guardian of Time." Next is the man with the swirls, another young man with black hair, and a handsome and distinct face. "Twister, Guardian of Air"

Lastly is the tank, who's also removed his helmet to show a man with more of a baby face than Mingi would have pictured. He's also got short light pink hair. "And this is Phoenix, Guardian of Fire."

Suho allows a moment for the new information to sink into the group before continuing. "Not all of us are here, Guardians D.O, Xuimin, and Chen are all away on missions off planet and Lay is up north." Another pause "I wish we could have met on better circumstances, however I regret to inform you that you've been mislead by Jeong."

Mingi frowns.  
"What do you mean?"

Star steps up, a tightness to his expression that wasn't there before.   
"I'm no thief."

"That's what a thief would say." Wooyoung blurts out.

The Guardian sighs.   
"I'm not a thief, but the King will place any crime on you if he wants you back bad enough."

Next comes Yeosang, a new edge to his tone that Mingi hasn't heard in a while.  
"What do you mean, wants you back?"

"I guess you'd need a bit of backstory, huh?" The crew nods, and Star sighs. "Alright..."

Mingi watches as Phoenix walks over towards Star, frown etched into his face as he suddenly blocks their view of the other man, n ow dwarfed behind the Tank. They speak for a moment before the taller man steps around Star and walks down the hallway off to the side.

Star looks around their faces for a moment before speaking.   
"I was taken from my home as a slave when I was 11 years old, I was kidnapped by a group of pirates hired by King Jeong who had set out a bounty for beings with natural abilities. They found me the day my powers manifested."

Phoenix walks back in, except he's not in his X-01 armor anymore, and is instead dressed like the others. He walks over and stands behind Star with a hand on the back of his neck in what Mingi assumes is a calming gesture if the way the tension slowly drains from Stars body. He continues talking.   
"I was taken to Valkar and thrown in a cell and underwent experiments to test my powers all the way up until I was 19 years old. A boy suddenly teleported into my cell one night and took me away, and brought me back home."

Kai is the one who speaks next, letting his friend breath for a moment and drawing everyone attention to him.   
"The day I saved Star...we hoped that what was done was done. But since he sent you it means that he knows where Star is, knows what he is. "

Mingi felt his heart stutter, the dread and guilt all made sense now. The odd feeling he got around Jeong, the unease and nerves. It made sense.

If what Baekhyun was saying was true, that meant that King Jeong was experimenting on foreign races, a crime. If what he had said was true, The King was sounding more and more like the Titan Frey. It worried him, his gut told him to worry.

Suddenly Han speaks again, attention directed at Yeosang and San.   
"You're both Valkarie, you know what he's like." A pause "You understand, one of you left but the other still struggles with his chains, do you not?"

Mingi turns and watches San and Yeosang flinch under everyone's eyes. He frowns, was Yeosang a slave like San?

San recovers first, surprisingly, and shakes his head. Head down as he speaks.   
"If we return empty handed we'll be killed."

"Then don't return, just leave and never turn back. But be ready for hunters on your trail." Star cuts in, tone firm and almost begging.

The pirates share looks, this is bigger than a loss of credits. Hongjoong shifts, not sure what to do or say, and the rest are in the same boat. Left to watch San, Yeosang, and the Guardians.

Yeosang turns to San.   
"He's right San, just join us and stop playing his games."

San frowns  
"You know I can't leave _him_..."

"Bring _him_! We'll protect you, you saw how long I've lasted."

Mingi blinks, wait San remembered Yeosang? He watches Yeosang, suddenly suspicious. Just how much has the other kept from them.

San sighs, nodding ever so slightly that he almost can't tell.

"So...what's the plan?" Hongjoong asks, in an irritated tone.

Mingi wonders the same, if they're for fitting a job then not only are they not getting paid but they're also ruining their reputation. It's probably selfish but he worries for the long-term effects on their crew. He wants to cut in, offer his piece on the subject, but his mouth won't open.

"Listen, I know it's hard but you have to understand..." It's Zee who's talking this time, for the first time, while he walks around the group to stand next to Kris. "Jeong is a bad bad man, there was no good ending to this..."

Beside Zee, Kris nods and Mingi watches as he lifts a hand to pat the others head.   
"The most likely outcome even if you managed to take Star is still death, he would want to cover all of his tracks. No pay, murdered in the Chapels audience hall. Your best bet is to just leave and pretend you never accepted the job."

That seemed cowardly when put like that, like they were afraid of death. But it also made sense.

"Captain, we should listen to them..." Yeosang speaks, staring right at Hongjoong with an unreadable expression.

Mingi watches their Captain in thought, sees Seonghwa step up to him and mumble something into his ear. Whatever he says works because Hongjoong nods his head and addresses them in a slow voice.   
"Okay..."

The Guardians seem relieved, now much more relaxed at the agreement. As does even the crew. Who have all relaxed their stances into casual postures. Wooyoung walks up to Mingi, a slight frown on his lips.  
"Do you think this is the right choice? I mean we're out 6 now, it's not like we get jobs that pay like that often..."

Mingi sighs, reaching a hand up to ruffle his own hair.   
"I think...what they're saying is true. Jeong mostly wouldn't have paid us anyways, plus it's dirty money."

"All of our money is dirty, Win. We're pirates." The other blurts.

"You know what I mean! We don't deal in unethical assignments, and we've been tricked into one." The pilot huffs at the end, because they'd been tricked alright.

He pauses for a moment before turning towards Wooyoung with a question on his tongue.   
"Hey, since when did San remember Illusion?"

Wooyoung tenses before relaxing, it happens in almost a split second and fast enough for him to almost miss.   
"How should I know?"

"You've been with him this entire time, don't play dumb with me." Mingi cuts, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

The other wilts under his gaze, he shifts his weight awkwardly.   
"Sans always remembered...but it's not my story to tell, nor do I know the reason."

He wants to claw for information, being left in the dark is bugging him to no end. However, the darkness on his friends face holds him back. Whatever Sans reason is must be awfully bad for Wooyoung to seal his lips about it. So instead of hounding the tank he nods his head, turning towards the others in curiosity.

"...I suggest you head to Earth actually, Solaris is a bit dangerous to be in when you're fresh on Jeongs bounty list." Suho says, speaking to Hongjoong who has moved forward to speak to him and Kris better.

"But Solaris is dead center on the IGA, it's fortified and I don't think Jeong would send men to get us there..." He remarks, face scrunched up.

Kris shakes his head.  
"No, he wouldn't send men but he would hire the ones there. Earth is much safer, nobody would think to look there since hardly any one leaves or enters the planet unless it's to zip around their own system."

The man makes a good point.   
Humans barely left their own planet let alone their planet system, his kind were like that for some off reason. Even he had gotten odd looks as a teen when he talked about leaving to join the Core, like he was crazy to be leaving.

But Earth was off the map, protected by the IGA military but not a hotspot for travel. It was a good location to hide away at. Even if it brought painful memories.

Hongjoong seems to finally agree as he nods and shifts his weight.   
"Okay, plan set..."

"What I said before, about meeting on better terms, is true. You all don't seem like bad people, misguided yes, but not bad." Suho offers, a kind of sad smile on his lips as he glances around the crew.

Mingi can sympathize with that, he'd always liked Ex'0dus and it's lore. He can't hold this against them, it's not their fault.

Eventually the group are allowed to leave, escorted by Zee and Twister who both leave their helmets off since their identities are already exposed like the crew's. They part with the others after a short awkward farewell that feels weird to say given their circumstances. They're walked back down from the elevator and allowed to redress themselves.

Instead of walking the group piles onto the technical truck from earlier, having to climb into the bed like sardines in a can but they make it work. The ride back is much shorter than the walk, and by the time they arrive it feels like Mingi hasn't processed what's happened or what's happening. He feels weird and disoriented.

The truck pulls up the the same hole in the fence that they landed their ship at, and he's never been so happy to see the ATEEZ in his life.

Everyone piles out, moving to stand around the fence and face the two Guardians. Twister speaks first, face blank but voice warm.  
"You should come back sometime, see Ex'0dus for what it really is... instead of coming to kill one of us."

The group cringe at his bluntness, and Mingi watches as Zee snorts and smacks his friend on the shoulder. "Ignore him, he doesn't understand emotions." He turns back to the group, a smile on his curled lips. "But he's right, you should visit sometime. I think you'd like it here..."

"We'll visit, after all...you've spared our lives and helped us find the truth. We thank you, Guardians." Mingi glances at Hongjoong as his Captain speaks.

Zee and Twister both bow before walking back to their truck and driving back to the city. The pilot feels a sense of sadness that he can't explain as he watches the two leave, but he pushes it down and turns to the crew.

Everyone looks worn out, even Jongho seems like he's tired.

Hongjoong sighs, rubbing a hand down his face before turning towards the ship and beginning to walk towards it, speaking to everyone over his shoulder.   
"Alright everyone, load up. Win, I want you to set a course for Earth-"

_Mingi sighs as he enters the ship, wanting to take a nap. _   
  
  



	12. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"You promised me, Yeosang! You told me that we could get him, you can't just take back your word!" San shouts, his voice cracking half way through._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
I'm so so so sorry for the long wait for an update for this story, and I'm honestly disappointed in myself for how long it took me.
> 
> Some of my other fics took priority and my own procrastination for actually working on this story made it hard to write for it.   
I hope this short filler chapter helps a little, but don't worry I'll have a full length one out soon! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

  
It's only twenty minutes into their flight towards Earth before Hongjoong pulls Mingi away from the control desk with an unreadable expression on his face.

It makes the pilots stomach churn, the feeling of impending doom settling in his bones as he's guided into the Captain's quarters.

He hates talks with Hongjoong, he actively avoids them at all costs.

Now, Mingi isn't a small man. He's at least six foot tall with enough muscle on him to hold out in a fight no problem, he's trained and experienced. He's headstrong and as resilient as he can be, so there's no reason for him to have the slight fear he does of his Captain.

Hongjoong is undoubtedly a good man, regardless of the mysteries of his up bringing and the back alley steps he had to take to get here, he's a genuine good person with a pure heart. That however doesn't mean he's a push over or a soft shelled person.

He's stubborn and prideful, he doesn't like feeling lesser than what he was and he'd fight the largest beasts on Pandora if it meant defending his honor.

Hongjoong and Mingi had an unspoken understanding, both two humans in an unforgiving and unknown space who grew up too fast. Hongjoong respected Mingi as much as Mingi respected Hongjoong, but there was still a slight expectation of Mingi that Hongjoong never explicitly said in all of their years together.

Hongjoong was now his Captain, his leader, and that meant he didn't speak over him like the rolls were reversed.

Mingi knew that as soon as he opened his mouth back on Ex'0dus he would get an ear full from his friend, still even knowing the consequences he'd went ahead and blabbed over his Captain.

The Captain's quarters were not nearly as large as one would think, but granted the ATEEZ wasn't the largest or most luxurious ship they could have gotten their hands on. Although it's smaller, it's comfortable and personalized in a way that shows Hongjoong for who he is.

It's messy, with sheets of paper, maps, and books on the ground and desk. There's two screen tablets on the large unmade bed, and clothes thrown around like a tornado had ripped through the room. His Captain might be collected on the outside (kind of) but inside he's a mess.

_Oh, how he wants to crawl into that bed and take a nap. _

But sadly he can't even attempt to inch towards the soft looking mattress, as Hongjoong is looking at him with the same unreadable but waiting expression as he taps his boot on the metal flooring.

Mingi sighs, choosing to wait until his friend speaks verses going first.

He watches as Hongjoong sighs, shoulders slumping down and his frame going slack.

In another circumstance it could be amusing, seeing his long time friend look both so young and so old at the same time. How can someone their age look so worn and aged.

"Mingi, give me one good reason I shouldn't rip that annoying eye out of your skull..."

The man huffs, taking a slight offense to the jab at his organic eye. He never understood everyone's hatred for the damn thing.   
"Rude."

"I'm serious! We've talked about you pushing me aside and trying to lead this crew. This isn't isn't the _ONEU_S Mingi, you're not second in command anymore." Hongjoong bites out, his shoulders tense. "I give you all a lot of room to offer up your suggestions, but when we're out on the field I don't want any of you talking over me like you just did!"

Mingi bristles, a painful pinch takes his chest at the mention on his old ship. He feels embarrassed and slightly betrayed at how blunt his _friend_ spits it out.

His old crew was a sensitive topic, his time in the Solar Core was rarely spoken about amongst the guys. It was one of the unspoken rules of the ship, _the past was the past_. Each member had their own story, even San had his own, and it was common courtesy amongst the guys to not push and pry into everyone's history.

Mingi wasn't exactly secretive about his life, his story was probably the least confusing out of all of them, but that didn't mean he wanted it brought up often. Hongjoong knew the heavy weight he held over Mingi's head with those words.

Hongjoong pauses at the look on Mingi's face, seemingly realizing what he'd said and wincing.   
"Look, I'm sorry...I shouldn't have-"

"It's fine." Mingi cuts him off, he doesn't met his eyes and instead chooses to stare at the messy bed. "I understand my place, may I go?"

"Mingi-"

"May I go?"

A beat of silence.

"Yes, you may go..." Hongjoong mumbles out.

Mingi doesn't hear the full sentence, already marching out of the room and back towards the flight deck with a blank expression. He nearly bumps into Seonghwa in the hallway, but he pointedly ignores the concerned look the older sends him.

His head hurts, his body is starting to ache, and he's tired.

He doesn't want to be pulled back into the memories of back then, can't afford to dwell on the past any more than he already does.

When Mingi enters the room me notices that everyone minus Seonghwa and Hongjoong are present. Wooyoung is sitting in Mingi's chair with his leg thrown over the arm, Jongho is standing behind the D'Morian, and Yeosang and San are sitting next to each other on the bench that the former normally works on, speaking in hushed tones to each other.

He grunts once he makes it to his chair, smacking Wooyoungs leg down without a care.

"Hey!" The younger protests, looking up at him with a glare.

Mingi rolls his eyes.   
"Get out of my chair."

Wooyoung groans dramatically, sliding off of the seat and huffing at his friend as he reclaims the spot. The human glances around at his screens, trying to ignore Wooyoungs persistent tapping at the back of the chair.

"So....what'd Hongjoong scold you for this time?" The other asks, forcing Mingi to grit his teeth.

"Nothing."

"Tch, what crawled up your ass and died?"

"W-Wooyoung, I-I _zzzt__ don't_ think t-that Mingi-i is in a good m-mood..." Jongho mumbles from his spot next to Wooyoung.

The other just scoffs.  
"He can be in a bad mood all he wants, but he doesn't get to take it out on us."

Mingi is about to retort when there's a shout from behind the group that raws all of their attentions.

_"San!"_

The three all spin around to see Yeosang and San standing in the middle of the flight deck, Yeosang's hand gripping onto Sans wrist in a hold that looks a bit painful. But San doesn't seem to notice if the frantic look on his face is anything to go by.

After they'd left Ex'0dus the two had been awfully quiet, choosing to talk to each other only in slight heated debates. Nobody had talked about their conversation in the Tower, even if they wanted to ask about it. But now, the two seemed to be fighting more than anything.

Sans hair was ruffled, like he'd been grabbing fistfulls of it and tugging anxiously, and Yeosang seemed worried and distraught as he tried to call for his _friend(?)_ to calm down.

"No! You won't listen to me!" San yells, either not remembering the others in the room or just not caring anymore.

"I am listening! You're the one not seeing reason right now, there's nothing we can do!" Yeosang tries, but even to Mingi -who doesn't know what's wrong- it sounds like a bad response.

San yanks his hand away, hazy blue eyes hard and cold.  
"I'm not leaving him! He doesn't deserve what is happening, I'm not going to abandon my bestfriend like you did!"

Yeosang looks hurt, eyebrows pinching together as he looks at the other with wide eyes. Mingi can also see Hongjoong and Seonghwa entering the room with confused faces.

"I didn't abandon you..."

"Yes, you did. You left us, Yeosang! You left and planned on never coming back, left us to rot away!" San bites out

Hongjoong steps up  
"What's going on?"

Both Valkarie seem to ignore the man, not turning their gazes from each other. Yeosang's face drops it's sad expression and gets replaced with a more aggravated one.   
"There's nothing we can do."

"You promised me, Yeosang! You told me that we could get him, you can't just take back your word!" San shouts, his voice cracking half way through.

Yeosang glares  
"I promised you nothing, I told you to join us and we'd protect you!"

"Does Yunho's life mean nothing to you?!"

"Of course it does!"

"Then why are you-"

"Enough!" Comes a new voice.

The group all flinch and jerk their attention to Hongjoong, the man busy looking between the two Valkarie to notice all of the eyes one him.   
"Let me ask again, what the _fuck_ is going on?"

San is the first to talk, voice a bit wobbly as he turns to the Captain.   
"We need to pass by Valkar before we go to Earth."

"What? Why." Hongjoong demands.

"Don't listen to him!" Yeosang rushes out, tone flat.

San makes a noise between a very and a yell, slipping into the awkward tone of the Valkar language.   
"!dniheb ohnuY gnivael ton mi¡"

"!naS¡"

Mingi watches as the two start to fight again, going back and forth endlessly. Beside him Wooyoung leans in and whispers to him.  
"Who do you think they're talking about?"

He glanced at his friend out of the corner of his eye and huffs.  
"Like I'd know..."

"Asshole..."   
Wooyoung glares at him, admittedly Mingi will feel bad later for his bad mood but for now he's content with being standoffish. He shrugs and turns back to the group in front of them.

San is back to glaring at Yeosang, though the other has softened his gaze a bit under his _friend(??)_.

"Please, San...just-"

"Yeosang you don't understand! They're _killing _him...I _can't_ leave him to die!" San pleads.

"Even if we could manage to get close enough to Valkar without being detected, which is damn near impossible, but who the fuck would we even get him on the ship?" Yeosang huffs out, hoping his spill would change the others mind and what ever crazy rescue mission San wants to go on.

Of course it doesn't work.   
"I can tell him to come here! He can make it!"

Yeosang suddenly gasps, making Mingi even more confused.  
"That could kill him, San!"

"Not anymore! He's stronger now, we both are. Please!"

"You'd not only be putting his life in danger, but also all of ours! We already have to worry about Jeongs mercs, if we bring him here the king could send a fleet for him!" Yeosang protests again.

Mingi frowns, just who were they talking about.

"tohs a ti evig ot evah ew" San mumbles, and though Mingi doesn't know what he says it sounds sad.

Yeosang sigh, his head tilting back in an exhausted motion before he turns to Hongjoong.   
"Is it possible for us to skim the outskirts of the Valkar radar? Just close enough for us to see the planet fully..."

Hongjoong frowns  
"Hold up, we're not doing anything until you guys explain what's going on."

The Valkarie pauses for a moment before sighing again.  
"Please believe me when I tell you that it's a long story...but there's a guy on Valkar, a friend, who me and San can leave behind." He makes a weird face before continuing "He'd be a valuable member of the crew too, I promise..."

Mingi watches as his eye seems to twitch before he's nodding.   
"Okay, fine. But you're going to explain, no more secrets and lies."

When Yeosang nods back Hongjoong turns to Mingi. 

_"Set a course towards Valkar."_   
  
  



	13. Flight Log 12.5 : What Have We Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next few events confuse Mingi to unexplainable levels, it all happens so fast and so chaotically that he's not sure what happened let alone if they HAPPENED at all.

  
There were times when Mingi regretted leaving Earth to join the Solar Core.

Times like those are when he can't ignore the old dull ache in his heart where his mother's sweet voice used to warm his chest, he'd long forgotten the sound of it of course by now so that slot in his chest is cold and useless.

He'd have bouts when all he could think about his how he wasn't there for her dying words, wasn't there to hold her hand and tell her how much he loves her and just how much he appreciated her.

He'd been busy in his own hospital bed next to Hwanwoong's.

Mingi hated the Core for what they'd done to her, because in his mind they'd killed her rather than the cancer. Or maybe it was Mingi that'd killed her, if he wanted to get technical it was his fault.

But the death of his friends and family wasn't the lone reason, space travel was tiring.

It was an ongoing joke amongst the crew that Mingi napped a lot, he'd sleep on anything and anywhere if he was tired enough. Personally Mingi thinks it's a human thing, Hongjoong is in the same boat as him, napping wise, though the captains persistent insomnia forced him awake more than Mingi.

Still, it wasn't uncommon to find him crashed in the Captains chair or blurrily walking down the halls like a drunken man.

Jongho never slept, for obvious reasons, though sometimes when his systems got bogged down or if his fusion core ran out he'd act in a way that could be compared to sleepy. Yeosang and Wooyoung seemed to sleep the most after Mingi and Hongjoong, though it was normal amounts. And Seonghwa seemed to sleep the least, going days without ever even blinking too slow let alone getting any shut-eye. Mingi couldn't imagine going so long without dreamless sleep.

Leaving Earth meant that his body had to adjust to the new lack of a sun cycle. Before, he'd sleep at night obviously and be up during the day, but out in space there is not day and night cycle, it's always night with glimpses of star lights. Time didn't work the way it did in planets, and he thinks that's one of the reasons he sleeps so much, his body thinks it's night and even if he's fully rested he should be dead to the world still. Living on Solaris helped, the ships faux light shifting helped trick his body for the most part.

Currently, as Mingi sits slumped in his chair, he'd love nothing more than a nap.

The atmosphere in the flight deck was beyond tense and stuffy. Nobody chose to talk, instead choosing to sit silently and either watch the passing stars or occupy themselves with minor work.

Hongjoong is in his own chair, back straight and staring out of the dash window with a blank expression and hard eyes. Seonghwa is not in the room, having left for the med room not long ago to escape the suffocating air.

Wooyoung and Jongho are sitting off to the side with their suits out and dismantled to lay around them, both too busy tightening any loose plates or shifting joints to lighten up the atmosphere. Yeosang is sitting next to San, like before, but instead of quietly talking Yeosang is glaring at the floor while San looks paler than normal if that's even possible.

The two Valkarie had yet to explain themselves of just why the fuck they were making him fly _back_ towards Valkar. Once Hongjoong had given the okay to go and Mingi had set the coordinates they'd both clammed up and zipped their mouths shut.

It's obvious to say that the captain wasn't happy, and had spent a good five minutes trying to yell at Yeosang enough to get the man to break his silence. Hongjoong avoided San however, whether it was the lack of trust he had in the man or the fact that he just didn't know him was unknown, but the other Valkarie was saved a lecture by whatever it was.

In the end, Hongjoong was in a pissy mood and Mingi wanted to nap.

Mingi sighs, slumping in his set more as he looks down at his screens. They would get to the outer edge of the small system Valkar sat in in just under a half hour, but he's not sure he's thankful for that.

He's not sure what he's expecting, but he preys to whatever god or gods are out there that nothing bad happens. That uncomfortable feeling he'd had before is growing with the thought of returning anywhere near that planet.

It's funny, how he dreaded even seeing Valkar in the distance. Once he'd entered the academy and learned about the legendary stories and tales of its history and mysterious ways he'd been enamored by the idea of Valkar, a planet untouched by the war and uninitiated into the IGA. Now, now he hated the idea of its secrets. And he'd only been there once.

Valkar wasn't average, there was something about it that rubbed him the wrong way. He couldn't describe it, it was just something he felt.

The first time he'd met Yeosang he had a similar feeling, just not nearly as strong, and now that he think about it he'd felt it around San too. Mingi frowns and turns his his chair to look at San.

The Valkarie is as still as ever, however there's a tension that he's not sure the cause of. Sure, there's a suffocating atmosphere from the argument before and their Captain and Engineers pissy moods, but San didn't seem like the type to dwell on tension like he was now.

Mingi still had a hard time forming a solid opinion of San, he didn't know him but he didn't seem bad, per say. Wooyoung liked him right off the bat but he couldn't use that as a base for his view of the other, wooyoung liked a lot of things for no reason.

But, San seemed genuine just a bit secretive and cautious.

Mingi had seen the glimmer in those eyes of his when he'd first got on the ship, he'd his it well and stayed to himself but it's obvious that San was curious about everything around him.

It makes him think, think about just what life on Valkar was like. It didn't seem overtly pleasant, Yeosang ditched, Baekhyun had warned them to just leave, and San seem rather okay with abandoning his home planet to join a group of pirates, at least he'd be fine once they finished whatever they were currently doing.

Mingi still didn't know, something about a person they had to pick up. How exactly they were going to pick someone up without touching land made no sense to him as the ATEEZ doesn't have a warp-pad, but he's too boggled by everything that's happened to care anymore. Whatever those two had planned he didn't care, okay no... he cared, but he didn't at the same time?

The dashboard lights up and catches his eye.

_ETA 10:00....9:59....9:58....9:57...._

Mingi blinks for a moment before he sits up straight and calls over his shoulder, loud enough that everyone can hear him.  
"We're 10minutes out, it'd be a good idea to tell us the plan now guys..."

There's a bit of shuffling noises before Yeosang is suddenly standing in the space between Mingi and Hongjoong's chairs. Both the pilot and captain turn to him, expecting an explanation.

Yeosang makes a face briefly before he sags his shoulders a bit and glances out in front of them, specifically at the planet they're approaching.   
"Get the ship as close to the orbit field as you can, but not close enough to get locked in..."

"Still not explaining? You can't just expect us to go in ind like this!" Hongjoong spits out, his tone adding a new layer to the tension in the air.

Yeosang makes a strange noise in his throat and turns to Hongjoong  
"Just trust me! I'll explain after, but just do this for me!"

Hongjoong doesn't get a chance to reply as Yeosang is turning around and walking over to San who, if Mingi is being honest, looks like he's ready to puke.

Mingi doesn't really know what to do, Hongjoong is busy gnawing at his inner cheek, Wooyoung is watching Yeosang and San with confused eyes, and Jongho is literally just picking up his and Wooyoung's suit pieces and putting them to the side. He frowns again and grips the wheel.   
"Guys..."

Hongjoong finally stands up from his chair, he speaks up, directed at Mingi, but his tone is sour and annoyed.   
"Do as he said, rest near orbit but don't touch it..."

Mingi nods a bit reluctantly and pushes their ship forward, edging closer to the planet with each second.

If there's anything Mingi hates more than lack of sleep it is flying a ship close to a planets orbital field. It's hard to control and it's a bitch to pull out of if your get sucked into the gravity, the ATEEZ isn't a small ship which makes it even harder to avoid. He wants to hold his breath, but chooses not to as he also listens to the conversation behind him.

"What now Yeosang?" Hongjoong asks

There's a bit more shuffling before Yeosang replies.   
"Okay, I hate saying this but...Mingi?"

"Uh?" The pilot hums, curious why he's being talked to directly like this.

"When I tell you to, I want you to flip the ship around and jump us."

Mingi coughs, but doesn't pull his attention from keeping their ship steady  
"What?!"

"Huh?" Hongjoong questions at the same time as Mingi.

"I know, but just trust me! We just need to get away as fast as possible, okay?" Yeosang defends himself

"Yeosang -" Hongjoong starts, but is interrupted by Wooyoung's voice

"San? Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah!"

"San? What...?"

"tihs..."

The next few events confuse Mingi to unexplainable levels, it all happens so fast and so chaotically that he's not sure what happened let alone if they HAPPENED at all.

First there's a loud yelps, like someone is in pain but is gritting their teeth too hard to be healthy.

Second, Wooyoung shouts out San's name along with Hongjoong making a panicked noise.

Thirdly, the power in the flight deck flickers in the most odd and confusing way, their lights flash blue and his screens go black for a split second.

Fourthly, there's another cry out in pain followed by both an extremely lout _popping_ sound and a heavy thud.

At some point Yeosang yells over the chaos for Mingi to jump the ship, which takes him a moment to do, and in his own panick shoots them off in the direction he _thinks_ earth is in.

And Finally, and most importantly, as they come out of hyperspeed and everything calms down, there's one thing that sums up the entire thing in only a few words.

Hongjoong croaks out, voice awkward and nervous as he stares at something behind Mingi's view.

"Yeosang...what did we just do...?"

Mingi turns in his chair, head spinning a bit from the warp, and nearly inhales his own tongue.

In the middle of the flight deck, crumbled up on the floor right next to San, who's in a similar unconscious state, is a familiar body.

Prince Yunho of Valkar, is unconscious in their ship.


End file.
